Talon: A Dawg's Tale
by SkorchNTorch
Summary: Mad Dawg was meant to be a living weapon, a being that could get anywhere, kill anyone, and be gone without a trace... But he ended up 86-ing and joining Overwatch. BUT... What if that didn't happen? What if... The ever twisting series of events that lead Mad Dawg to become a hero... pointed him in the opposite direction?
1. Let's Get Ridiculous

Sombra leaned back in her chair, lazily scrolling through different feeds from different cameras all over the place. She sighed as she watched a whole lot of… nothing. Passing by several people looking around before handing something from one to another. She reached toward the 'record' button to use this for later blackmail, but she stopped, oddly not feeling like it. It was a simple drug deal, big whoop. She wanted something… Different. Things were quiet amongst Talon recently, Reaper and Widowmaker were out attempting to steal their fear, and arm, less leader's Infinity Gauntlet looking thing, Moria was preoccupied with work at Oasis University, and the other agents were doing who knows what. So she was left looking for something to pass the time with. It wasn't easy, even Overwatch had been keeping a low profile after Akande escaped, so it wasn't like she could mess with them. So here she found herself, watching the world go by. Scanning across a few more monitors, she paused when she saw someone sitting on the edge of a bridge. At first, she thought whoever this figure was there to jump, but upon switching to the main monitor, she saw the figure seemed to be swaying back and forth, as if dancing. Sombra raised a brow at this odd figure. Zooming in the best she could, the hacker frowned upon seeing that the figure was wearing a gas mask which concealed their face, not only that, they was looking down at something. Opening her profiler, she was confused when she didn't see a phone on them. And since she wasn't physically there, she couldn't hack them.

 _Just who exactly are you?_ She thought to herself.

Jumping to a street camera, she had a vertical view of the figure. It didn't help much, but at least it was something. From what she could tell, the newcomer was wearing a black track suit with white accents and stripes on the arms and one pant leg. What stood out the most to her was the fact that they had a freaking _tape player_ of all things next to them, all the while they were writing or drawing something.

"I can't believe this guy…" Sombra muttered aloud. Was this guy for real? Just hanging out on the edge of a bridge like it was a Saturday night hangout? Also, who stilled uses tapes?! What reason could they possibly have for this? While she knew nothing about the mysterious masked figure, not even knowing if he was human or Omnic, one thing was clear: her boredom problem was dealt with. As she drummed her fingers on the desk, debating her next step in discovering this newcomers identity, she noticed the not only was this figure wearing a mask, there seemed to be a camera attached to it. Hoping for the best, she opened her profiler again and low and behold, a camera did appear. When she began her infiltration, everything got glitch and staticy. His defences seemed crude, but were rather effective nonetheless. Her screen seemed to be flickering about with what looked to be a wolf head laughing at her. She found the weak spot and hacked through it. She was slightly nervous that the newcomer would be alerted someone was trying to hack his mask, and would hack her back. However, the screen went black without warning, then she was looking down at a colouring book as the figure was sitting on the edge of the bridge, defacing it with crayons. Currently, he was currently drawing a hoard of zombies chasing after Tracer and some of the other Overwatch agents. Not only that, but she could hear the song he was listening to, and was singing along to it.

"I'm laid back, I'm feeling this, tonight's the night and I just wanna let it go. Hit the play back, I know you're feeling this; c'mon baby! Let's get ridiculous!" The figure, which she could now identify as male, still only in his teens sang along. After crudely drawing another zombie, the teen closed the book and tossed it to the side, as if getting ready to leave.

He did all right.

Pushing himself off of the bridge, he began whooping and hollering the whole way down. Sombra was glad she had hit record once she got through on his mask, because she couldn't believe what she just saw. Genuinely thinking she was about to watch someone become roadside chili, the teen fell through a sunroof as a van went by. Landing in the back seat, the teen looked around, seeing a man driving, a woman with a shotgun in the passenger seat, an Omnic on his left, and another man on his right.

"Sup, K5pl-AN? Sup, Jeff?" The teen said, looking to the Onmic then to the man. He suddenly leaned forward into the front, looking at the woman. "Hey Jade, you ridin' shotgun? Redbone my man! You still got some road trip snacks?"

The woman, named 'Jade' apparently, smiled and laughed slightly. She picked up a Twix bar and pushed the masked figure into the back.

"Sit down Dawg." She smiled. "You want the treat boy? You want the treat?" She asked, waving the chocolate in front of the mask.

Sombra just stared confused at what was happening in the van. This masked teen was named… 'Dawg'? What kind of name was that?! Also, it still made no sense what he was doing here or who any of the people in this van were doing. Were they cosplayers? Mercenaries? Missionaries who were taking this WAY to far? But what annoyed her more however was that none of the people riding in the van had any tech close enough that she could hack for information. Therefore, she was riding mostly blind on this bizarre journey. 'Dawg' meanwhile, pulled a tomahawk off of his belt and pointed it towards Jade.

"Gimmie. Gimmie the snack, give me lots of them, and give them to me right now."

"Why the hell did the boss agree to hire this guy again?" K5pl-AN asked, annoyed.

"Because he's our friend." Jeff said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, the boss hired him because Mad Dawg is best there is." The driver, Redbone, stated in a thick Russian accent; "He gets the job done, and the boss wants the job done, so we hire Mad Dawg. Have you learned nothing for the other jobs we have done with him?"

" _His name's Mad Dawg?"_ Sombra thought, listening into the conversation. _"Well, it's a creative name at least, and he seems like an interesting guy…"_

"Ay, MD." Jeff said, getting his attention. "Can you take off the mask? It's a security risk, and not exactly subtle."

"Sorry, the boss wants to see this." Mad Dawg replied. "And besides, it's not like someone could hack into the camera on my mask, I mean, if they did. I'd just launch a counter-measure system that revealed where they were! Then I'd hunt them down and rip them apart limb from limb. But hey, what are the odds THAT would ever happen?"

For the first time in ages, Sombra paled slightly. Did he know? Had he played dumb about her intrusion? She wasn't sure what made her uneasy more, the fact that he seemed to have known what she did, or how casually he discussed mutilation and murder.

"I can't tell I your joking or not, and that's very concerning." Jeff dryly commented.

"Meh, fifty-fifty." Mad Dawg replied, eating a Twix bar under his mask. "But like I said, what are the odds?"

"Do you ever shut up?" K5pl-AN groaned.

At that moment, Sombra felt like she was being watched, possible someone was even in the room with her, her paranoia getting the better of her, she very slowly reached for her machine pistol and set it on her lap.

"Control yourself comrade." Redbone instructed, not looking back. "And prepare yourself for the job."

"Yeah, yeah, it's a good old Cash Crash, I'm ready!" Mad Dawg said, waving a hand dismissively. His statement got a chuckle from Jade and an annoyed groan from K5pl-AN.

From there, the five remained quiet, the only sound being the radio, and Mad Dawg munching on Twix bars. Sombra was genuinely fascinated by what she was seeing. Whoever these people were, they weren't Talon. But they seemed to know what they were doing. What annoyed her was how they seemed to speak in a code, which she had no ide how to decipher. She thought about trying to find some dirt on them, but decided to ait and see how this played out. If she was being honest, she liked this 'Mad Dawg' character. He seemed like her, strong willed, a little unhinged, and disrespectful wen he could get away with it. What she was still curious about was who Mad Dawg REALLY was, and who their 'Boss' they were working for was. But she had a feeling she was going to find out as the van pulled up outside of a nightclub. Mad Dawg looked up at the sign, but it seemed to distort violently, keeping the Mexican Hacker from finding out where they were. She thought this over, either the recording that was being made was cutting this out to cover their tracks or (as much as she didn't want to admit to this) he knew what he was doing. As the five walked into the club, the bouncer looked at them and nodded, allowing them to enter to the rooms full of flashing lights and dancing patrons. Mad Dawg walked over to the bar and called out "Whiskey Sour! Triple!" And the bartender nodded, before fixing a rather large drink. Sombra couldn't help but laugh when she saw Mad Dawg look down at the drink, then look at the bartender, then back down. Wordlessly stating his issue. The bartender seemed confused then realized his mistake and put a straw in the glass. Sipping on his obscene amount of whiskey and lemonade (seriously, Sombra was surprised at how much there was. It nearly filled a pint glass!) As he met up with the others, they stood around, seemingly waiting for something. Mad Dawg was still drinking his whiskey sour and seemed to be dancing to the beat. Sombra couldn't help but laugh slightly as she watched the camera shake around. All the while, K5pl-AN was giving him annoyed looks the entire time clearly annoyed with something. Finally, a security guard walked up and nodded to them and they walked back behind where the DJ was currently blasting a pretty good dance beat to a wall. One o the guards walked up to Mad Dawg and said:

"Mask off until you're in."

Grumbling slightly, Mad Dawg began pulling his gas mask off… And then the screen went black.

"No!" Sombra exclaimed. Equal parts annoyed and shocked. Mad Dawg had shut the camera off, and unless he turned it back on, she was SOL. Anxiously waiting for something, ANYTHING, she reviewed what she knew so far. It was very little, but still. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the masks camera returned and Mad Dawg looked around the room they were in. There were a few armed people standing near the walls watching them. Someone came up and handed him a pipe, which he lifted the mask up slightly to light and inhale, he paused then exhaled some smoke he coughed as he pulled his mask back down before handing the pipe back to someone and then looked to a man sitting in a chair with two large bodyguards on either side.

"Good stuff." Mad Dawg commented.

"So… what the hell do you guys want?" The man asked, looking bored more than anything.

"We're here for what you guys owe us." Jeff stated. "So, you hand it over. Or this gets bad for you."

Mad Dawg turned and looked at Jeff, and Sombra could just _imagine_ the look on Mad Dawg's face.

"Really?" He finally said. "THAT is your big threat? THAT? A simple, 'where my money at'? That's it?"

"I gotta agree with the BDSM guy." The man in the chair said, pointing to Mad Dawg. "Also, what the hell are you talking about? I don't owe no one nothing."

"Hang on, I'll be with you in a second." Mad Dawg said, turning to Jeff. "Jeff, bud. I get it, you've been doing this far longer than I have, but let me show you how to get what we need."

Grabbing the man and throwing him into a wall, Mad Dawg unsheathed a blade from somewhere and it appeared on his wrist as he held it up to his neck. The sounds of guns cocking could be heard but Mad Dawg didn't turn around, keeping focused on the man.

"Where's the money Lebowski? Where's the money shithead?!" Mad Dawg exclaimed in a threatening tone.

"What the hell are you doing Mad Dawg?!" K5pl-AN shouted.

"Trying to get the money we're owed." Mad Dawg growled. "Now hand it over or I'll gut you like a bass!"

Sombra was surprised at how quickly Mad Dawg seemed to go from happy-go-lucky to very deadly. She wasn't 100 percent sure if he'd actually kill the man or not, but she was intrigued.

"Heh. You got some balls, I'll give you that." The man, 'Lebowski' chuckled. "But… I don't have the money. Never did."

"What?" Mad Dawg asked, leaving him and Sombra confused.

"Did you ever stop and think about it? Why you're here? Why'd you come here for a Cash Crash? Why come to a hidden room underground, do you SEE a safe? Or anywhere that could have a hidden safe? Stop and think about it kiddo, doesn't this all seem a little suspicious? I mean, when's the last time your boss gave you so little to go off of? Think about it, have you ever SEEN your 'boss'?"

"Meh, the boss works in his own way." Mad Dawg said, trying to reason with the man he was threatening to kill. "And…we're here for the money." Mad Dawg said, eyes narrowing again. "Right guys?" Looking to Redwood, Jade and the others to confirm his belief, only to see they had their weapons drawn and aimed at him. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. What are you guys doing?!"

"Something I've wanted to do for a _long_ time." K5pl-AN said, aiming his revolver at Mad Dawg's head.

"It is nothing personal comrade." Redwood said, clearly not liking what they had to do. "You were good friend, but this is job… and it must be completed."

"Okay… K5pl-AN I get, he's the kinda asshole that would make a popular video game then make some characters stupidly broken… but you guys too?" He said looking to Jade and Jeff.

"Sorry sweetie." Jade said with a mock hurt tone. "But the Boss said he's done with you, and we don't want you doing something stupid and undoing our work. So… we needed to get you somewhere quiet and get rid of you."

"As for me, the boss is paying well." Jeff added.

"Look, you guys don't wanna do this." Mad Dawg said, seeming scared more than anything, and Sombra was frozen where she sat in a mixture of shock and interest, watching the betrayal unfold.

"Sorry kid." 'Lebowski' said with a twisted smirk. "I'm just cleaning house."

"Wait. _You're_ the bos-"

Mad Dawg was cut off by a hail of bullets tearing him apart as he fell to the ground, everyone except Redwood fired everything they had, blood pouring all over the floor. His chest now riddled with bloody holes, Mad Dawg didn't get up as the room stopped firing. They waited a few moments to make sure he was dead, but it was clear he was.

"Mios dios…" Sombra whispered, shocked by the brutal execution she just witnessed. Sure, it wasn't really anything new considering that she worked for Talon and all, but it was more shocking due to how young Mad Dawg seemed to be, and how without a second thought they gunned him down.

"Well. That's dealt with." 'Lebowski' commented, as the men holstered their guns. Two of the guards dragged his lifeless corpse into another room and leaving it there. Sombra was about to stop recording, when she saw Mad Dawg's hand twitch. Then, to her absolute shock, he groaned and got up. Looking at a mirror that was in the room for some reason. Sombra stared slack-jawed as the bullets somehow were pushed out of his body and the wounds closed.

"I liked this hoodie…" He grumbled. The reached behind him and pulled a double-barrelled shotgun and loaded it. Cracking his neck to each side he began to walk away before stopping, and looking back at the mirror. Pointing at himself he said: "To all the children watching at home. Cover your eyes."

Kicking open the door, Mad Dawg fired his shotgun at two of the guards, both of whom screamed in pain as they were shot, and then burned due to something eating away their chests.

"Acidic bullets bitches!" Mad Dawg shouted, turning and blasting two more guards before reloading as the others drew their weapons and attempted to fire at Mad Dawg, only to be blasted and what whatever was left be burned horrifically by acid. Suddenly, his tomahawk flew across the room and dug right next to 'Lebowski'. All that was left now were Redbone, Jade, Jeff, K5pl-AN and 'Lebowski' who were all looking on in absolute shock at the fact that he was alive.

"Kid… let's talk about this." 'Lebowski' said, clearly terrified at the sight of the bloody Mad Dawg, and the fact that he was alive, and the realization that this was going to end very badly for him.

"Shut. The hell. Up." Mad Dawg demanded, gun aimed at his ex-boss. "Redbone? Get out. You didn't shoot me so you can go. But we never speak again, okay?"

Redbone didn't reply, he just dropped his gun and ran out the door in a panic, not looking back at the carnage that was about to ensue.

"Kid… If you this, you're a dead man." 'Lebowski' tried to reason.

"No, I'm not." Mad Dawg shook his head. "You own a night club owner and a drug dealer. You're not a threat."

Mad Dawg was suddenly side-rammed by K5pl-AN who knocked the gun out of his hands and began swinging hard at him. Bloodying his metallic hands. Deciding to intervene, Sombra hacked the lights and caused blackout, causing everyone to pause in confusion, however, Mad Dawg managed to kick K5pl-AN off of him and got back up. When the lights returned, the room was silent, Mad Dawg having disappeared, and then the sound of a chainsaw was heard. This was followed by K5pl-AN screaming in terror as the running blade appeared through his chest and sliced up, leaving Sombra shocked by the fact that Mad Dawg now had a chainsaw. It was also incredibly clear that the few remaining gang members, that they were _royally_ screwed. And everyone in the room realized it to. Before they could react, Mad Dawg rushed forward and drove the blade into Jeff's chest, blood flying everywhere, before ripping it out and slicing Jade's arm off as she tried to fire her gun at him. Making her scream in terror and pain, only to be silenced by Mad Dawg decapitating her, and then shooting Jeff in the head for good measure. The room was covered in oil, acid and blood, and only one man remained. Slipping on blood, 'Lebowski' attempted to get away, only for Mad Dawg to grab him by the leg pull him back.

"Why man?" Mad Dawg demanded. "After all the work I did for you, WHY?!"

"I…I…I thought you were a liability moving forward… I didn't know you could… I…I didn't think you were a threat." 'Lebowski' stammered.

"You wanna see a threat?" Mad Dawg snarled, his voice getting demonic. "Let me show you a threat."

Removing the mask, Sombra sighed, frustrated when he tossed the mask off to the side, once again keeping her from seeing his face. Then she heard what sounded like bones cracking, a deep snarling, and 'Lebowski' screaming in pain, as something seemed to be ripping him apart.

"What. The hell." Sombra finally said aloud, only able to hear the carnage and she was pretty sure she didn't WANT to see whatever was happening.

Suddenly, the Wolf head appeared, laughed once again and the screen went black. However, Sombra didn't freak out, just trying to understand what she had witnessed. Then, some text appeared on the screen.

 _Did you enjoy the show?_

Sombra's eyes widened even further than they had before. He _did_ know she was watching him.

Meanwhile, Mad Dawg climbed up out of a fire escape and climbed onto the roof. He jumped onto another roof and then climbed back onto a skywalk and ducked around a corner. People were giving him looks or backing up in fear. Sensing he was being watched he saw a homeless man near a clothing donation dumpster and he leaned down to him.

"Get me out of here." Mad Dawg said, handing him an envelope. The man nodded and opened a small latch on the dumpster and pushed Mad Dawg into it, covering him in clothes. MD wasn't sure how much time passed, he might have fallen asleep for a few moments, but it was dark and quiet under the clothes, no one was going to find him. Which was fine with him.

" _Well, time to find out who was watching me…"_ Mad Dawg thought as he looked at his phone, but after a few moments, he found nothing. _"Damn it… Well, back to finding them…"_ He looked at his phone again, seeing security footage of a nearby museum where two figures were running from it.

" _Well, that makes this a bit easier…"_ Mad Dawg mused, turning off his phone as he felt the pile of clothes being moved. _"Let's hope she can help me…"_

 **A.N. Betcha didn't see this coming! Yeah, I've wanted to do this for a while, but I needed to get Overwatch: A Dawg's Tale going for a bit. So, kick back, relax, and discover what happens to heroes when a few things happen differently…**

 **Also, I edited a LOT of this chapter. I uploaded the first draft and then realized how many mistakes and issues there were, hopefully this is better.**


	2. Kickstart My Heart

Things were _**BAD.**_

Akande didn't think things could have gotten as bad as it had recently. Yet somehow, it turned out that yes, things could get this bad. It had all happened so quickly. Reaper and Widowmaker were set to the Numbani museum in order to retrieve Doomfi- er, HIS gauntlet. Things were going fine, until the British girl and the monkey arrived… Yet this wasn't a reason to be alarmed, Reaper and Widowmaker were two of the most effective agents Talon had. They could easily handle two agents. What Akande _HADN'T_ expectedwas the small boy who suddenly hit Reaper with his gantlet and knocked him out cold. The entire room seemed to freeze after that, as no one could believe what had just happened, and that included Akande, who –despite himself- had to admit the child was a fighter. The only possible silver lining to the whole fiasco had been that Widowmaker had managed to escape, taking the gantlet with her, but Reaper was caught and taken away by the agents. Currently, all of Talon's operatives were working overtime to think of a way to get Reaper back. As he walked into the mess hall, he saw Hakim, surrounded by sheets of paper and tablets, trying to think of a plan.

"Hakim." Akande said as he walked over. "What do you have?"

Hakim sighed, running his hand through his messy hair. He seemed shaky, and smelled of coffee. It was clear to anyone who walked by, both by smell and look, that he hadn't slept in days.

"I'm sorry boss." Hakim mumbled, rubbing sleep from his bloodshot eyes. "Unless we know where they took him, we can't plan a breakout, and we don't have anything we could possibly trade with. The best ideas I have involves you putting that gauntlet on, going on a rampage and destroying some stuff, then offering to surrender it in exchange for Reaper's release, or somehow kidnapping an agent to trade with."

Akande frowned. That was a terrible plan. Not only had they just gotten the gauntlet back, but also it wasn't repaired and operational yet. He looked at some of Hakim's other plans, the plans involved; tunnels, tanks, cows, air drops, giant mechs, inflatable dinosaur costumes, just surrendering altogether, and others that clearly proved that Hakim was losing his mind.

"Get some rest." Akande ordered. "You can't focus without rest, and we need you at your peak mental condition if we're to liberate him."

"Boss, I'm not tire…" Hakim began but slurred and fell face forward, snoring loudly having crashed from the constant sugar intake over the past few days.

Continuing his way across the mess hall, he walked over to Sombra, who was busy scrolling through any security feed or communication line she could find. For the first time in a long time, she was dead quiet and focused. She was more focused than anyone had seen her in years.

"Anything?" He asked, looking at all the feeds.

"Nada Akande." She shook her head, annoyed. "I think I might be onto where Overwatch is located, but something tells me they wouldn't keep Gabe there. But still, if we find Overwatch, we can find where they're keeping him."

"Good. Keep at it." He nodded as he walked away. As he did, Sombra's thoughts briefly drifted back to the teen she saw a few days ago. Mad Dawg was his name… or something like that…

" _I wonder how this would go if he was here…"_ She thought before shaking her head and returning to surveillance trying to find Reaper.

Akande stood in the back of the room, watching as a team of technicians worked on repairing the gauntlet. When it was taken to the museum, most of the weapon systems were removed or deactivated. If Akande wanted to use this again, it needed to be repaired. As he waited for the results, one thought went through his mind.

" _We need a miracle…"_

Meanwhile, in Miami, people came and went from Palm Tree Records as if nothing was wrong, and to pretty much all of them, nothing was. The sun was high in the sky, and while the temperature was a bit hot, there were plenty of coffee houses and juice bars offering frappes and smoothies to those spending summer days at the beach. Cars drove by blaring music as Omnics and people went from store to store, and down to one of the many pristine beaches. As the sun's rays peaked in through the blinds if the small room above the record shop, Mad Dawg groaned in annoyance before turning over in his bed, not wanting to wake up.

"No…" He groaned. "Go away…"

However, since the sun is a ball of constantly burning solar gas and energy and has no physical mind of its own and no control over its actions, therefore making it unable to physically think or make choices, the sunlight kept coming in until Mad Dawg finally threw his blanket off and groaned as he got up. Tired from both his generally bad sleep patterns, and because of him healing from his injuries. After his 'friends' were dealt with, Mad Dawg had managed to escape, to those who knew about it, there was a sort of underground network of people who were willing to help those who were… in a bind so to say… If you had the money, you could get all over the map undetected. While he may have suffered some seriously painful injuries (at least four broken ribs, two punctured lungs, and several bullets through his legs) Mad Dawg had managed to survive and disappear, returning to his home. Slipping on his flip flops, Mad Dawg lazily made his way down the stairs and into the record shop.

"Hey look who's up!" A voice called.

Casting a tired smirk across the room, Mad Dawg gave an almost drunken wave at the Omnic who owned the store, and that he gave money for rent to.

"Hey Firetank." He said, cracking his neck and back as he continued to wake up.

"I've told you, it's F3T-" Firetank began.

"I know, and I told you I'm too lazy to pronounce it correctly." Mad Dawg cut him off as he poured himself a coffee and sat on a table.

"So?" Firetank asked.

"So, what?"

"Did you have the dream again?"

Mad Dawg stared at Firetank, his eye twitching slightly.

"Why the hell do you wanna know?" Mad Dawg growled while Firetank groaned annoyed.

"Because you asked me to ask you every morning so you can try and keep track of this dream, which you still haven't explained to me mind you, in order to figure out if you need to see a shrink about it. Your words not mine." The Omnic answered dryly.

"Oh right…" Mad Dawg muttered, remembering he HAD asked his Omnic landlord to do that. Shaking his head, he didn't answer the question as walked out of the store into the blinding sun. After his eyes adjusted, Mad Dawg wandered aimlessly down the street, not sure of what to do today. As he walked by a newspaper box he looked around to make sure no one was watching, then kicked it aggressively, the door opening with a moan. Taking a paper, Mad Dawg closed the box and kept walking. He flipped to the backside, as the only reason why he even still stole papers were for the comics, but even then, they were getting stale. Beginning to crumple the paper, Mad Dawg paused when he saw the headline. At first, he thought it was just some tabloid news, but when he stopped and looked at it he couldn't believe what he was reading.

 _Talon Enforcer Captured!_

 _In a shocking end to Talon's attack on the Numbani museum, the infamous terrorist known only as 'Reaper' was taken into custody by the recently re-instated Overwatch. The agents of Talon were believed to be attempting to steal the Doomfist gauntlet… (Continued on Page D4)_

Sitting on a back bench, Mad Dawg silently read the entire article, there were a few quotes for Tracer, but there wasn't a lot of information as to what exactly happened. However, it was also clear that the gauntlet WAS stolen, but Reaper had been captured, and that seemed to be the fact of more importance right now. Mad Dawg leaned back and sighed with a shake of his head. He thought back to his dream last night before deciding on what he was going to do today. He was going to get lunch.

On the other side of the planet, two small boys followed a young woman through a base, eyes full of wonder and awe. In the aftermath of Reaper's defeat, Timmy and Bryan were taken back to Overwatch's HQ (which was still being renovated since their reinstatement) in order to meet the other agents. While Bryan was still a little nervous about what had happened, Timmy was staring at everything, his mind clearly blown multiple times now. Winston had to stay and talk with several government officials after the attack, but Lena and the two boys returned to the base. Entering the mess hall, Lena shot an annoyed glare over at one of her teammates as he smoked a cigar. But after realizing there were children present, he quickly tried to wave the smoke away.

"So." The man said in a southern accent. "These the kids that took down Reaper?"

"Yup!" Tracer said in her chipper tone, moving to the side.

"Hey, Th'name's McCree." McCree said, tipping his hat slightly as a sign of respect. "You boys want a drink? I got some good bourbon."

"Jesse!" Tracer exclaimed shocked. McCree however, just laughed at her reaction.

"Works every time." He smirked.

"You're the legendary outlaw McCree?" Timmy asked hopefully.

"Well… 'Legendary' yes, 'Outlaw'… Well, not as much anymore." McCree answered honestly. "I'll give you credit, doin' what you did took a lot more spine than you might realize."

"Uh, thanks?" Bryan replied awkwardly, still unsure how to handle what was currently happening.

"Lena." Came a gruff voice.

Lena, McCree, Timmy and Bryan turned and saw an older man with a red visor over his face walk into the room, a plasma rifle slung over his back. Bryan's eyes widened in fear while Timmy's eyes widened in amazement as they realized who was standing in front of them.

"Is that…" Bryan began.

"…Solider: 76?" Timmy finished.

"You two know your stuff." 76 commented, despite his seemingly angered outward appearance, his voice conveyed respect. "I'd love to stay and get better acquainted, but I'm needed elsewhere."

"To make sure Reaper doesn't escape?" Timmy asked.

"Pretty much." 76 shrugged. "I'll be back later, save me some pizza." After finishing, he turned and exited out another door. Bryan wanted to ask Tracer something, but was stopped by the sound of techno music suddenly being blasted throughout the mess hall. Suddenly, another door opened and Lúcio skated in, he was jamming to his music while carrying several pizzas with him. Coming to a halt, and making some sparks fly, he set the pizzas down and turned his music down.

"Whazup?" He said with a cheeky grin.

Bryan and Timmy were once again made silent by who they were meeting today. And it wasn't even lunchtime yet…

Back in Miami, Mad Dawg sat in a corner on a small pillow, quietly eating a bowl of ramen noodles, listening to the gagaku which was being played throughout the resturaunt.

" _This chapter dosen't seem to be going anywhere…"_ Mad Dawg thought. _"Whole lotta description, not a lotta stuff…"_

Well, sometimes chapters need to take a while to get going, characters or events need to be established and properly-wait. Why am I explaining this to you?!

" _Because you're an idiot."_

As Mad Dawg was busy contemplating how this chapter was written, some of the hot water from the bowl spilled out and landed on his lap. His eyes twitched and he bit his tongue trying to keep quiet, only making his pain worse.

" _Screw. You."_

Thankfully, Mad Dawg's healing ability kicked in and his tongue was quickly repaired. Pausing for a moment, Mad Dawg thought about that, he had his ability to rapidly regenerate as long as he could remember, but he didn't know WHERE it came from. Anyhow, he turned his attention back to his sketchbook where he had been drawing something, only to grumble when it didn't look right. He tore the page out and looked around before tossing it into a nearby fireplace, the fire consuming his paper.

"Hello Kace." Looking up, Mad Dawg smiled when he saw Akiko was standing next to his table. The old woman smiled down at him before sitting down across from him.

"Ohayō gozaimasu." Mad Dawg said with a slight bow of his head as a sign of respect. However, Akiko just gave a gentle laugh at his greeting.

"You don't need to be so formal young one." She smiled with a shake of her head. "What can I help you with today?"

"Um, do you remember a while ago I told you there was someone I owed a life debt to? But that someone was unaware of my existence? And how I was unsure of what to do?"

"Yes, I recall that." Akiko nodded, understanding where he was going. "You wish to repay that debt now, don't you?"

"That's about the size of it." Mad Dawg agreed.

"Do you know how to go about it?" Akiko asked. When Mad Dawg didn't reply, and she frowned before saying in a flat tone: "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"No." Mad Dawg finally replied. "I'm working on that, but I need your help finding him."

"Is this… one you owe this debt to the one who I believe it is?" Akiko asked tentatively, even though she already knew. But when Mad Dawg nodded, she sighed before giving her head a shake. She gently cupped Mad Dawg's cheek and lifted his head up so he was looking at her. "You do realize what you'd be risking, correct? Even with your healing ability, this could cost you your life." She explained in a caring yet sincere tone. Akiko had known Mad Dawg for a while now, and knew he was sometimes… out of it. But she hadn't seen him like this before.

"Yeah, I know. But in this kind of scenario, if I died to save him, I'd be fine with that." Mad Dawg finally replied quietly. Akiko nodded in understanding.

"What is it that you need?" She asked.

Two Days Later…

Gabriel Reyes thought he had felt every type of pain imaginable and unimaginable. When he underwent Moira's process to turn him into a super solider, he felt pain that men and women couldn't fathom. He believed at first, he had died and was sent to hell, and for all eternity he would be made to suffer the experimentations she performed on him. But he didn't die.

Not once.

Hundreds, maybe THOUSANDS of times.

Reyes' body could no longer sustain itself, and he found himself in a state of death and rebirth. One which had no end, and no cure. It had taken him years, but he finally learned to overcome the pain. At one point, it was his ally. His motivation. Now, he felt nothing.

Or so he thought.

Currently, Reaper was chained in a special containment room, his mask removed and devices were jabbed into him in an attempt to 'cure' him. And all that pain he had overcome, all the death and rebirth, it was all back with a vengeance. Currently, he had trouble breathing and his body felt like it was being sliced into pieces and stapled back together. He looked up, anger and pain in his eyes. Eyes which seemed to deliver a single promise, that whoever they lay on would die a horrible, violent death.

That however didn't even begin to phase Mercy as she studied the report and effects of the attempted treatment that Reaper had been subjected to. When he was brought to the holding facility, the first question asked was _'What now?'_ It was clear that Reaper had to stand trial for his crimes, but was it possible to convict him in the state he was in? Mercy and Ana had strongly suggested they attempt to revert him back to how he was before, then possibly he could assist them in taking down Talon. However, nothing they did seemed to have any effect, aside from causing Reaper great pain.

"How did this happen Gabriel?" She quietly asked, looking sadly at her former teammate.

"You left me to suffer… You left me… to become… what I am…" Reaper weakly growled.

"No. _You_ turned to Moira and let her perform her… experiments on you." Mercy chided him.

"Heh… that's what they want you to believe." Reaper chuckled darkly. "I honestly thought… you'd be smarter than that…"

"What are you talking about?" Mercy asked, puzzled and very cautious.

"Morrison… took everything from me." Reaper rasped. "After the Venice incident, he left me in the dark. He *cough* betrayed us. Me, the kid, and the others… He took the credit for that mission, he became leader… And you all continue to suck his arrogant di-"

Reaper was about to finish when he began violently coughing again. Leaving Mercy disgusted and also… saddened. She knew what Morrison had done, and while she didn't like it, she knew he was at least partially right. While Jack's reason for what he did was sound, what Gabriel did as well also made sense. But what he did after didn't.

"He said he valued strength… but he knows nothing of it. I did what I did… to become stronger… better…"

"Was it worth it?" Mercy asked as she began to gather her things, preparing to leave.

"When you beg for death as the blood of the small Numbani girl spills onto you, him and Ana as you find yourself trapped under the corpses of everyone in the damn organization… It will have been." Reaper growled, every word dripping with venom. Mercy stopped, turning bone-white as she heard the threat. Her eyes widened in shock, and while she didn't want to believe that Gabriel would ever do such a thing, she knew with dread that Reaper would do such a thing. Reaper weakly laughed, seeing the fear in her body language, and taking great pleasure in it. "Cry, beg, it dosen't matter. When I'm done… you'll all learn… what I went through…"

Mercy collected herself and frowned, not looking back at Reaper.

"Well, first you'll have to get out. And that won't be happening any time soon."

For now, that was true. Efi had managed to create what she reffered to as 'Inhibitor cuffs' which managed to tether Reaper to her physical form, so he was unable to enter his wraith form or teleport. Leaving the cell, Mercy turned and walked down the hall, passing by the guards. She would stop by to make sure Efi was fine. She knew she was… but Reaper's threat made her a little nervous…

Over the next few days, things were hectic for the agents of Overwatch. Every news source in the world was asking the same two questions; what would happen to Reaper, and what happened to Doomfist's Gauntlet? Thankfully, Morrison had stepped up once again and been able to provide satisfactory answers. Some news outlets wanted to talk to Bryan and Timmy, but for a few different reasons (the kid's age, their parents not wanting this to get out of hand, Bryan not wanting to talk about it.) they remained silent. Overall however, the public's view of Overwatch did a complete 180. While some people (and Omnics) were fine with Overwatch returning, with Reaper's capture _EVERYONE_ was fine with it.

As the days went on, Mad Dawg remained as he usually did, staying quiet and in the background, being almost invisible to the rest of the world. He ended up staying far longer than he expected at Akiko's resturaunt, he was still there to this day. After their conversation, Akiko led Mad Dawg in some meditation techniques to help him figure out what he wanted to do. Currently, Akiko was walking through the back of the resturaunt and smiled when she saw Mad Dawg sleeping on the ground in the small corner she had let him stay in. Getting down, she gently nudged his shoulder to no avail. She nudged it again, and this time, Mad Dawg stirred.

"Good morning young one." She smiled. "Ready for another day of productive activates?"

"Mrrggghhh….."

"Kace?

"AGH!" He exclaimed, bolting upright. Eyes wide in shock. He breathed sporadically for a moment then calmed down. "Aye… I'm up, I'm up." He then realized where he was and gave a slight gasp. "I… I'm sorry!"

"It's fine child." She nodded. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mad Dawg nodded, his tone saying otherwise.

"Okay then…" Akiko nodded with a slight frown. "I thought you might want to see this." Handing him a piece of paper, Mad Dawg looked at it quizzically, then his eyes widened in realization.

"Thank you, Akiko." He said as he got up. Giving a respectful bow, he grabbed his bag and exited out the back. Akiko wanted to call after him, making sure he knew what he was doing, but she also knew Kace's definition of understanding was drastically different than everyone else's.

Solider: 76 had been waiting for this day for a long time, and yet he also wished it could be put off indefinitely. He made his way through the security clearance protocols, id cards, hand scans and so on, approaching Gabriel Reyes' cell. He paused for a moment, still debating if he wanted to do this, or let Reaper be taken away. Shaking his head, he walked into the cell, and heard Reyes' scratchy breathing.

"Jack…" Came the deep, angered, broken voice. Reaper lifted his head up and scowled. Only now did Morrison see Reaper's face. And it was unsettling to say the least.

"Gabriel." Jack nodded. "It's been awhile."

"Heh… How long… has it been, since we did this?" Reaper asked, his voice hitching, but still one that seemed to have hidden motives underneath it. Even now, when he was detained, Reaper was still… intimidating. Jack paused, thinking it over. Then shrugged.

"Before Venice I think." Jack shrugged. "Can't say for sure however, as after that, we were dealing with your mess."

"Hm." Reaper nodded. "Back when Overwatch meant something… st(cough)od for something…"

"We always have, and always will Reyes. Just what we stand for, and how we go about that change. Yet you never seem to, you remain as twisted as ever."

"And you've changed?" Reaper retorted. "Sulking around the streets, attacking small-time thugs? Praying on those weaker than you? Exploiting those around you to benefit yourself?"

"Would you rather I attack you?" Jack cut in, becoming more like Solider: 76. "We both know how that'd end, and believe me, making your face would look worse than it currently does is no small feat."

"Are you here to kill me, or make me laugh?" Reaper asked, ignoring the insult, but Jack could see in his eyes it burned away at him.

"We're trying to cure you." Jack replied. "I was curious though if you knew how much you'd be charged with if you went to court. All the deaths, the acts of terrorism."

"You talk to me about terrorism, yet you have Junkers on your team." Reaper cut in. "You yourself were at one point branded a terrorist. Yet here you stand, acting as if your above it all, stronger, better. You're too blind to see you're the very thing you tried for so long to fight, the thing you feared is YOU." Reaper snarled, pulling forward on the chains to get a few inches closer to his old teammate. Morrison didn't respond, he seemed to be deep in thought about something before he spoke again.

"That may have been true at one point, but things are different. The world is changing Reyes, people can change." He paused for another few moments before adding: "I've got an offer for you Gabriel. You help us find Talon, and we'll help find a way to help get you out of this… curse."

"Get… out?" Reaper slowly repeated. "Heh… You're joking, right? There is no-" Reaper was cut off by another violent coughing fit and growled after he was done. "There is no _cure_." He snarled the last word more than the others. "Sooner or later, I'll get out, and this whole cycle will begin again. More corpses, more violence, it'll never end. I will never end."

The cell went silent, neither one knowing what to say, finally Morrison cracked his neck and spoke up again.

"I know." Was all he said. "We hoped you'd help, maybe put your conscious at rest, but if you're not going to, then we're done here."

"So… what now?" Reaper growled.

"We can't kill you, so we're gonna do one better. We're gonna bury you." Solider: 76 said, and to his surprise, Reaper seemed taken aback. "You're gonna be taken to an undisclosed location, wherein you'll be left in inhibitor cuffs and buried nearly two hundred feet underground. Once you're there, you'll remain there until you finally give up your spirit and die."

The silence returned, and this time, it was haunting. Morrison decided there was nothing left to say, so he turned and began to walk away.

"You think this is how it'll end? That you can drop me in a pit and forget about me?! This isn't how it will end Jack! Don't you walk away again! **JACK!** "

As the doors closed, Solider: 76 sighed deeply, feeling like he had failed.

"You alright boss?" Came a voice, casting a glance over his shoulder, McCree was leaning against the wall.

"I told you not to call me that." Solider 76 replied. "And how much did you hear?"

"Enough." McCree shrugged. "I was coming down to talk but… I don't think it's a good idea now."

"Probably not." Solider 76 nodded as the two of them walked away.

Mad Dawg took a quick drink from a bottle of Liquormen Whiskey before looking around nervously. He had a feeling this could end VERY badly if he wasn't careful, he took a deep breath and wheeled back before rolling the ski ball down the track, it launched off the ramp and landed in the ten-thousand-point hole. Mad Dawg gave a 'Yes!' as his score went above the current high score. As the skeeball machine played its victory tune, Mad Dawg walked out from the arcade where he was hanging out and looked around, finally seeing a high-end car with the license plate _LU3C1O_. Slipping over to it he looked around and then dropped his phone, as he bent down to pick it up, he quickly elbowed a very specific spot on the undercarriage. While it wasn't common knowledge, these high-end cars had a hidden latch to open the trunk should someone have their hands full. Thankfully, he was right and the trunk silently popped open. Mad Dawg tossed his phone in and shut the trunk before heading back into the arcade and find the Freestyle Revolution Machine and dropping some quarters in. Occasionally glancing over to see if the car was still there. Eventually, he ignored the car and focused on beating this high score, toppling some gamer named D Va. All the while oblivious to the Dj and gamer who had left the arcade, gotten into the car, and drove off.

Reaper wasn't sure how many days had passed since he was caught at this point, the constant light in his cell made it hard for him to gauge the passage of time. It could've been a month, or it could've been two days. He knew there was a chance that Talon wasn't coming for him, and he was prepared to endure the long hall that would be coming but he also knew he had to be prepared for anything. Talon had no way of contacting him, so he had to remain alert, ready to escape at a moment's notice. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling something was coming.

Soon.

Out in the hall, the guards were continuing their patrols like usual, one guard walked down the hall, eyes forward, focused on the hall, when he heard a whistle. He stopped, thinking he may have heard nothing, but then the whistle came again. The guard looked around confused, then saw that the supply closet door was open. Confused, he went to close it, when he heard the whistle _again_. Drawing his weapon, he cautiously made his way into the closet to check it out. When someone grabbed him, and began choking him out. Silently closing the door, it went quiet, then Mad Dawg walked out into the hall, wearing the guards outfit and brandishing his weapon.

"Dixon!" A voice called.

Mad Dawg turned around and snapped to attention before answering the other guard. "All's fine, someone left the supply closet open." The other guard looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Back at it." He ordered.

"Yes sir." Mad Dawg nodded.

After he was sure that the other guard was gone, Mad Dawg slipped through the door at the end of the hall, he walked up and placed a glove on the hand scanner with the other guards' handprint. The computer scanned it and dinged the 'Okay'. As he walked through the door, two guards stopped him.

"What are you doing here solider?" One asked.

"I'm here for prisoner transfer, code words are 'Full Moon Diamond Sun'. Authorization given by Commander 76." Mad Dawg said, eyes hard and straight as could be. Hoping the codes Akiko's informant had gotten were correct. The two guards looked at one another, their faces growing serious, then back to Mad Dawg. Whose eyes widened in fear. Then the guard started laughing.

"Ah relax private! We're only messing with you!" One of them gave a good-natured laugh when he saw the look of fear on the kid's face. "Believe me, we'll be glad to have this parasite out of here and safely locked away."

Mad Dawg smirked and nodded.

"Me too sir." Mad Dawg nodded. "I've had a gripe with this bastich for years. I'm glad he finally got his ass handed to him."

"Still, you're a little young for this, aren't you?" The other guard asked.

"Yes, yes I am." Mad Dawg nodded. "But I'm just here to deliver Reaper to the others. I guess the bosses decided it'd be funny for me to deliver him…"

"Meh, good experience!" One of the guards shrugged as he handed him a stack of papers.

"Before you go, you need to read this to him or have him read it. Legal contracts and all that, I don't understand WHY we need him to read this but hey, I'm not in charge…" One of the guards said dismissively before the two of them opened the cell door. "Well, let's get this show on the road."

Mad Dawg nodded and walked into the cell, and it wasn't what he expected. White lights flooded the room, the only real darkness was Reaper himself. His body in chains and smoke still wafting off of it. Reaper noticed the door open and slowly lifted his head and looked at the guard who entered his cell.

"So… today's the day." Was all Reaper rasped.

"Sir, before we go, you are required to read these documents." Mad Dawg said, setting he stack on a table. "Please let me know when you've finished the page."

"This paper will be red with your blood…" Reaper scowled.

"Read. The freaking. Paper." Mad Dawg scowled under his breath, his eyes conveying something to Reaper, and he understood it. As he lowered his head and began reading the paper, Mad Dawg added in a whisper. "I'm here to break you out."

"Turn the page." Reaper stated, as Mad Dawg turned the page he whispered: "How does this work?"

"Sir, once you've finished reading, you will be transported to a convoy." Mad Dawg answered before whispering: "Can you do the smoke teleport thing?"

"I'm not done yet." Reaper said, stopping Mad Dawg form turning the page and answering his question.

"Make sure you read the info in the left corner. The cameras are watching, so don't try anything." Mad Dawg added before waiting for Reaper to ask him to turn the page. After about eight minutes, Mad Dawg closed the packet and pushed it to the side. "Are you ready to go? Or would you like a few minutes to pray?"

"Let's go." Reaper sighed, seemingly defeated.

Mad Dawg undid the chains and quickly secured Reaper's hands in cuffs and began to lead him to the door. Without warning, Reaper shoved Mad Dawg into the corner and attempted to attack him. Mad Dawg suddenly undid his inhibitor cuffs and replaced them with cuffs that looked similar to it. Suddenly the door opened and the two guards ran in.

"Private Dixon!" One shouted. "Get down!" The two guards raised their weapons and aimed them at Reaper.

"It's fine!" Mad Dawg exclaimed, dragging Reaper out from the corner. "He tripped, he's weak. I got this."

The two guards looked to one another, then nodded and lowered their weapons, allowing Mad Dawg to lead Reaper out of his cell.

"In ten seconds the lights are going to go out for five seconds. Once that happens, you need to do _everything_ I say." Mad Dawg whispered.

"Hmm." Reaper gave a quiet growl, as if to say _'Got it'_.

"With the cuffs off, you should be able to do the smoke thing again soon. If this is going to work, you need to do it when I say to."

"Hmm."

As the two continued down the hall, Mad Dawg tensed when he saw a cyborg ninja watching them. His sleek chrome body reflected some of the light, and he seemed… disappointed he also seemed to realize something and was about to ask him something, but then the lights went out. The guards began shouting in surprise and began scrambling around to find the back-up generator, but it was too late. When the r=lights returned, Mad Dawg and Reaper were gone.

" **CODE RED! I REPEAT! CODE RED! REAPER HAS ESCAPED! I REPEAT, REAPER HAS ESCAPED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!** " One of the two guards shouted into his comm device, and the message was relayed all around the base. At first, no one reacted, shocked by the news, then all the agents went into a mad, paranoia-filled scramble. Within moments, Tracer was on the scene, looking at the empty cell.

"How was this possible!?" She exclaimed.

"I don't know miss." One of the guards shook his head. "Private Dixon came in for the prisoner transfer and-"

"What prisoner transfer?" Genji demanded, suddenly landing from the ceiling.

"Th..the transfer for Reaper!" The other guard stammered.

"There wasn't any transfer scheduled for today!" Genji shouted.

"What?! But he had the clearance codes and authorization password! How the hell did he get those?!"

"Because that wasn't private Dixon!" Came a new voice. Everyone turned and saw Winston and a guard in his boxer's approach quickly. "Private Dixon claimed he was attacked by someone in the hall while on patrol."

"This guy just grabbed me and dragged me into the supply closet! I'm only away because Mercy revived me!"

"Private Dixon wasn't on prisoner transfer anyway." Winston added. "So how did…" He trailed off as everyone realized what most likely was happening. "PUT THE BASE ON LOCKDOWN! TALON HAS BREACHED THE BASE!" He shouted as he, Tracer and Genji ran off to stop what they assumed was a Talon jailbreak.

Mad Dawg paused when he heard the alarms begin blaring. He pulled off the shirt he had stolen and threw on his hoodie and mask and looked to Reaper.

"Can you run?" He asked.

Reaper coughed and shook his head, then gave a surprised yell when Mad Dawg grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder.

"Take this, and keep them off of me." He said, handing Reaper a double-barreled shotgun and a gas mask.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Reaper demanded.

"Escaping." Mad Dawg said, before taking off at full speed. Within moments bullets began flying down the hall, trying to stop them. "When I say smoke! Enter that smoke form thing for two seconds, then change back!"

As Mad Dawg skidded around a corner, he took off down another hall. As he approached a door, he shouted "SMOKE!" and threw Reaper up into the air. While shocked by this, Reaper entered his wraith form, and it hurt. Propelled by the speed Mad Dawg had been running at, he flew into the air vent above the door, then came out as he re-formed groaning in pain as Mad Dawg caught him and kept running. Looking back, Reaper noticed a giant hole in the door.

"Did you _run_ through the door?" He asked bewildered.

"No time to talk! Gotta run!"

Breathing borderline hyperactively, it was clear that Mad Dawg was beginning to slow down as they ran through another door (this one opening thankfully) and saw a large ascending staircase, and Mad Dawg began ascending them. Suddenly, the doors below were blown off of their hinges as an accented voice yelled:

"Don' worry mate! I got em!"

"Shit! Run faster!" Reaper demanded. Realizing who was below, before Mad Dawg could ask, a barrage of grenades was launched upwards, destroying the lower levels of staircases and severely damaging the structural integrity of the remaining ones. Mad Dawg stumbled as the staircase creaked aggressively, falling to the ground he quickly jumped up and lifted Reaper up once more.

"New plan." Mad Dawg said, then before Reaper could react, Mad Dawg threw him upwards and onto the next level landing. As the next grenades came upwards, Mad Dawg suddenly pulled a baseball bat out from… somewhere and whacked them back down. Jumping and pulling himself onto the landing, Mad Dawg paused for several deep breaths. He then pulled a can of something out from his hoodie pocket and guzzled it, wiping away the remains from his mouth and pulling his mask back down. Helping Reaper up, the door opened and before Reaper could react, Mad Dawg grabbed the shotgun and blasted a hole in the guard's chest, sending him into a wall, leaving a bloody stain on his chest and the wall behind him. Once again throwing Reaper over his shoulder, Mad Dawg began running again, only this time the cyborg ninja from earlier jumped up from the smoke and began running after them, yelling something Mad Dawg didn't understand.

"Anata no okāsan ni f***u suru!" Mad Dawg shouted back, knowing he was probably going to regret saying that. (Also, don't put that into google translator if your easily offended.)

"Do you know what you just yelled?" Reaper shouted over the bullets and throwing stars flying throughout the hall.

"Yes! And I have a feeling I'm going to regret it." Mad Dawg nodded. Suddenly, several of the throwing stars (yes, I know they have a real name, but it's hard to spell.) dug into his back, making him stumble and fall forward, tossing Reaper upwards he yelled in pain: "SMOKE!"

Reaper was surprised but turned to smoke once again but this time couldn't hold it for as long as the inhibitor cuffs had done a number on his body. He'd need a good long while to regain his strength. Thankfully, Mad Dawg rolled on the ground and got back up, catching Reaper and running off looking like a twisted version of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo.

"We need to get out of here otherwise we'll be torn to shreds!" Reaper yelled.

"I KNOW!" Mad Dawg yelled annoyed. "JUST GIVE ME A SEC!"

Then Reaper heard something he hadn't heard in years, but it still caused him to become genuinely nervous.

"Ryūjin no ken wo kurae!"

"I don't know what that means but I'm guessing it's bad!" Mad Dawg shouted as he threw Reaper over his shoulder and began running at an accelerated pace. Reaper grabbed the double-barrel shotgun Mad Dawg had given him and began firing at Genji, who deflected the first two shots, then jumped up and began running along the wall, his Dragonblade unsheathed and the green dragon circling it aggressively. He dashed forward and _just_ missed the two criminals. This time, Reaper fired at Genji's leg and the bullet hit the armor, it didn't blow his leg off, but it caused him to fall and skid across the ground, and clearly, he would not be getting back up. Sliding through the next door, Mad Dawg stopped and smashed the control panel on the elevator and it began to rise. He set Reaper down and looked him over.

"You alright man?" He asked concerned.

"Who…are you?" Reaper finally asked, realizing he knew nothing about his 'rescuer'.

"Is that important?"

"Yeah. I'd say it is."

"Well, I'd say it isn't." Mad Dawg shrugged. "Tell you what. If this actually works, I'll tell you who I am." Without waiting for an answer, Mad Dawg grabbed the shotgun and blasted the control panel, destroying it and causing the elevator to stop.

"This is going to hurt." Mad Dawg said seriously, getting down to Reaper's level and holding what looked like a cassette tape. "Just… Hold your breath."

"Wh-" Reaper began, but Mad Dawg crushed the tape-looking device and a bright purple flash went off. When the light flashed again, Mad dawg and Reaper were standing at the base of a large wall.

"What was that?!" Reaper demanded, coughing violently.

"Crap we were supposed to be-" Mad Dawg began but was cut off by another voice shouting.

"Stay where you are!"

Looking over, a woman in blue armor with a yellow helmet flew in front of several other Overwatch agents who were running towards them.

"Hrm… Good attempt." Reaper commented, believing they were screwed.

"No… we're not caught yet." Mad Dawg groaned, as if he was straining himself. Reaper was about to comment on how dumb this agent was, but then he saw he was shaking, and his hands seem to be changing. Then there was a sickening _Crack!_ Clearly bones were breaking and re-arranging and then… fur began to grow on certain places. Around his neck, his hands and his feet, at least, Reaper could see that. Then the agent turned and pulled his bandana down, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

"Ever seen _King Kong?_ " He asked in a deep, animalistic voice.

"What the he-ah!" Reaper began but exclaimed in shock when the agent (or more like creature) Grabbed him and swung him over his shoulder again then _punched the wall_ with such force it made a hole deep enough he could pull himself up and punch another hole in the wall to act as the next hand hold, then he punched again, and again, he was getting faster with each one, and no one knew how to react. Reaper nearly dropped his gun out of shock, and the agents below just watched for a moment, not sure of what they should do. Then Solider: 76 dashed onto the scene and raised his plasma rifle.

"Take them down." He ordered before opening fire. A few of the others looked to one another confused, before understanding Reaper couldn't be allowed to escape. No matter what.

Mad Dawg was frantically climbing up the wall, his mind gone, now replaced with a simple instinct: survive. His mouth began to foam with drool as he continued to climb, his claws digging into the concrete as he got closer and closer to the top. Reaper was now firing a few shots back down at the agents below, but the shotgun couldn't reach as far as a rifle, so the bullets were practically useless. Reaper suddenly found himself being pulled with one hand off Mad Dawg's shoulder and close to his chest as a slew of bullets from 76's plasma rifle hit him in the back, making the creature roar in pain and anger. Slinging Reaper back on his shoulder, he ripped a chunk of the wall off and threw it down, causing the agents to scramble to avoid the debris. Solider: 76 groaned and got up shaking his head and a little bit of rubble out of his hair.

"Go after them." He said, looking to Pharah, who nodded and took off, propelled by her rocket pack.

By now, Mad Dawg had made it to the top and re-adjusted Reaper once again and waited, looking down below at Pharah who was roaring towards them.

"What's the plan now?" Reaper asked. He had to admit, whoever this was had skill, if Talon had been keeping him for such an occasion, well, they chose a damn good time. The creature took off again, this time carrying Reaper in his arms, again, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo style, and began running.

"You can't run from justice!" Mad Dawg heard a female voice yell.

"Justice is blind! Just ask your mom!" Mad Dawg shouted back, seemingly back to normal.

"HOW DARE YOU!" The woman shouted before firing everything, a barrage of homing missiles firing out after them.

"You don't know when to shut up do you?!" Reaper snapped annoyed that this was the _second_ time whoever this was intentionally aggravated and agent to an extreme.

"Trust. Me." Mad Dawg shot back and began running. Only now did Reaper see what Mad Dawg was running towards, and internally, he burst out laughing in amazement. Down below, Solider: 76 seem to realize the same thing.

"NO!" He exclaimed in shock, startling he others who were trying to figure out a way to get up.

"What's wrong love?" Tracer asked, still upset at ow easily they seem to have been played.

"They're heading for the hangar!"

Mad Dawg began running in a zig-zag line under the planes and transport vehicles, occasionally tossing Reaper up as he slid under a wing, and while Pharah wanted to call off the missiles, it was too late, they were locked onto his heat signature and couldn't change course quick enough.

"Keep your head down!" Mad Dawg ordered as the missiles hit the first plane, as if that wasn't bad enough, the hit the gas tank, and the plane went up in flames. This caused a chain reaction as the other vehicles began to explode as the missiles and burning chunks of planes and transports flew around the hangar, crashing into other vehicles, causing them to explode all around them. And Mad Dawg was laughing like a Junker.

"Ahahahaha! I can't believe they're that freaking stupid!" He laughed, tears forming in his eyes as he and Reaper kept running. Finally, he stopped laughing and coughed. "Okay so listen, this is where my plan actually begins."

"What?!" Reaper shouted in anger and shock. "What the hell do you call what we've been doing for the past ten minutes!?"

"Really, really, good improv." Mad Dawg replied. Running out the door of the hangar, he turned on heel and ran towards a large garbage bin, kicking it to the side, he ducked into a small hole and crawled as best he could while still carrying Reaper, then finally go out and stood up. He yanked a sheet off of something and revealed a sleek, flame red motorcycle with flame patterns and skeleton hands on the handlebars.

"Nice." Reaper commented. "But I think we'll need more to outrun Overwatch."

"How many times do I have to say this? Trust me!" Mad Dawg groaned, annoyed now. He tossed Reaper a full-face helmet before strapping a brain bucket to his own head and throwing on steampunk-esque welder goggles. "Now put that on and let's go!"

Reaper was about to argue, but he heard the sound of the other agents shouting and vehicles roaring to life and quickly jumped on without another word. Mad Dawg revved the engine and tore out form their hiding spot, smashing through a small gate and jumping off of a Cliffside onto the highway below, some people screamed or honked their horns but Mad Dawg ignored them, weaving in and out of the vehicles.

"This is insane!" Reaper shouted over the roar of the engine.

"But it's working!" Mad Dawg shouted, he then hit something on the dashboard and a loud guitar began playing, and Mad Dawg threw one hand up, making the 'Rock On' sign and cheering. As they kept weaving in and out of the incoming and outgoing lanes, the lyrics began blaring loudly.

 _When I get high I get high on speed_

 _Top fuel funny car's A drug for me_

 _My heart, my heart_

 _Kick start my heart_

Reaper looked behind him to see several armored vehicles were behind them, and people were staring to clear the way for the agents as the cars came screaming down the road, trying to catch up to the cycle.

"Still got a plan?" Reaper asked sarcastically. Before Mad Dawg replied he shook his head. "No, no, I know. Trust me."

"We need to get off the highway and head towards Route 66!" Mad Dawg shouted.

Reaper didn't reply, deciding (against his better judgement) to trust… whatever this guy's name was. It was weird, he didn't know this –he didn't believe he was a Talon agent at this point- newcomer's name, where he came from, why he was doing this, but he had broken him out and was _somehow_ managing to escape! At this point, Mad Dawg fired his shotgun at a flatbed truck, hitting the chains keeping the ramps up, and the came down to the ground, causing sparks to fly as Mad Dawg drove off of one and jumped off of the main highway and down onto another path, the bike landed with a _**THUD!**_ And Mad Dawg and Reaper were tossed about on the bike.

"Sorry about your… uh…" Mad Dawg began but awkwardly trailed off. "Do you even still have-"

"Don't. Just. Don't." Reaper coldly snarled, cutting him off.

Continuing the chase down the highway, Mad Dawg suddenly turned sharply and drove onto an old bridge, one which had clearly seen better days, if the cracks and graffiti were anything to go by. He cast a quick glance at the mirror and saw a giant of a man riding a chopper come out from somewhere and suddenly began swinging a hook on a chain above his head.

"Shoot the hook!" Mad Dawg yelled, genuinely freaked out at what he just saw. Reaper nodded and turned as best he could, trying to aim the shotgun and steady himself. When Roadhog threw the hook, Reaper shot at it. Not a direct hit, but enough of a hit to knock off of its main course. The giant simply yanked the chain back and began swinging it again, same result. It was clear that the giant hook wasn't going to be too effective, so Roadhog went full throttle, trying to close the gap.

"Go faster!" Reaper demanded, knowing that Roadhog's chopper could, and would, close the distance soon.

Mad Dawg shrugged and pressed a button on the end of the left handlebar, injecting a high dose of NOS into the gas and flames shot out of the tailpipes. Mad Dawg knew he shouldn't but he pulled back and performed a wheelie as the dirt road had two black lines scorched into it as they drove down it at obscene speeds, all the while, the song kept playing.

 _Skydive naked from an aeroplane,_

 _Or a lady with a Body from outer space._

 _My heart, my heart_

 _Kick start my heart_

 _Say I got trouble, Trouble in my eyes,_

 _I'm just looking for Another good time._

 _My heart, my heart_

 _Kick start my heart_

At this point, a hover car was flying above the desert road trying to follow the chase, all while transmitting the live feed back to the Overwatch base where Orisa was streaming it for the remaining agents to watch.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Solider: 76 asked aloud, shocked at how this was going down.

"I don't know, but he seems to have been trained well." Torbjörn mused. "Talon perhaps?"

"No. Talon would not be this… sloppy." Hanzo commented, his brow furrowed deep in thought. He currently had more of an axe to grind than any other agent due to what this newcomer did to his brother.

Back in Deadlock Gorge, two of the armored cars had managed to find their way down and were waiting at an intersection for any sign of the biker.

"You sure he'll come by this way?" A solider asked McCree.

Before the cowboy could answer, said motorcycle tore by, it's song still blaring, and above it a voice was yelling:

" _ **SUCK IT!**_ "

"There's your answer." McCree said after a moment of stunned amusement. "Get going!" The two cars revved their engines and were able to give chase once again. Reaper looked behind him and saw Roadhog and now two armored cars.

"If you have a plan, now would be a good time to implement it!" Reaper yelled, a slight twang of desperation in his voice. He wouldn't come this far just to fail…

"Hey JQ? NOW!" Mad Dawg shouted into a comm device on the bike.

"Alright sweetie!" A voice replied loudly. "C'mon boys! You wanna end up in the dog house?! Let's go!"

To everyone's shock, a hoard of at least fifty more motorcycles drove out from seemingly nowhere and swarmed around Mad Dawg and Reaper. The confusing thing was, while some of the bikes looked different, all the riders looked the exact same. All wearing black cloaks and track suits, the bikes began weaving in and out, cutting one another off and changing positions.

"NO!" Solider: 76 yelled, nearly punching Orisa out of anger. "We can't let them get away!"

Reaper watched in bewilderment as the bikers moved in and out in patterns, changing locations so frequently it was like it was a dance. And to anyone watching from above, it all looked like a kaleidoscope of black and white accents and motorcycle engine sounds overpowering everything. Suddenly, some of the riders stood up on the bikes and began jumping from one to another, only making things MORE confusing.

"How the hell did they pull this off?!" Solider: 76 shouted, his anger rising more and more with each passing second. It didn't help that the bikers then decided to break off into different directions.

"Hang on there, boss! I think we found them!" One of the gunmen in the hover ship stated through the comm as they flew towards one bike which seemed to be slinking away down an alley, only to drive into a dead end. The soldiers and McCree jumped out and drew their weapons, yelling "FREEZE!"

Suddenly, the second rider (presumably Reaper) fell off of the back of the bike, revealing it wasn't Reaper, but a sack of potatoes with a basketball attached to a broom acting as a dummy wearing a black cloak, and the first rider was female.

"Negative. It's not them." McCree frowned. Then he heard something unexpected.

"What the hell?!"

Turning around, McCree was surprised to see a short man smoking a cigar come marching towards them.

"You've got some real nerve! You could've killed one of my actors!" He barked.

"Wait… what?" McCree said, confused.

"You punks just fly onto my set and endanger my crew?! I'll see you all in court for this!" The short man ranted on.

"Sir, what are you talking about?" McCree finally asked.

"I'm trying to film a damn picture here! And you just come baring in like you own the place!"

McCree, the soldiers, and everyone listening paled when they realized what had happened. Whoever broke Reaper out led them straight onto a film lot, and the cameras caught the whole thing.

"Now hold on one sec!" McCree suddenly said, regaining his composure. "A known terrorist escaped and we were trying to prevent him from getting away and-"

"You idiots couldn't even keep him contained for a week?!" The man exclaimed then burst out laughing, clearly knowing it must've been Reaper. "You're even more incompetent than I thought! And we thought you were heroes during the damn Omnic crisis! Bwahaha!"

McCree narrowed his eyes dangerously. He knew this would land him in trouble, but he didn't care. He wheeled his robot arm back and punched the man square in the nose, sending him back and onto the ground. There was silence until McCree sighed.

"Boss… We lost em'…"

During all the chaos and frenzy of the biker show, no one had noticed one particular bike had pulled over part way through the filming, and that two figures silently attached a rope to the guard rail on the side of the road and then proceeded propel down the cliff side until they reached the ground. Nearby, a small cave was located with a fully fueled jeep inside, with enough food and liquid to last upwards of two weeks. Currently, said jeep was roaring through the desert, and Overwatch had no clue it was gone, and they'd never know either. After a few minutes of tense silence, namely wanting to make sure they were gone and Overwatch wasn't following, the newcomer literally began _jumping up and down_ out of the top of the jeep cheering like a mad man.

" **THAT WAS SO COOL! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WORKED!"** Mad Dawg shouted before laughing uncontrollably and then cheering again, Reaper himself was cheering as well, genuinely amazed they had _escaped._ Mad Dawg began banging the steering wheel while cheering and held a hand up for a high-five, and Reaper, quite uncharacteristically, gladly returned it.

"That… that was incredible." Reaper finally shook his head. "How… how did you plan all that?"

"Well, I know people whose job is to know things, and I also know people who owe me favors, and I also know people who know things that know they owe me favors, so they point me in the direction of people I'll owe a favor to but know things and can-do things and…"

"Stop." Reaper ordered, his head spinning from his explanation. "Let's try something else. Who are you?"

"My name isn't important." Mad Dawg answered, and Reaper understood (annoyingly,) he wasn't going to get answer, so he decided with the second most important question.

"Are you with Talon?"

The newcomer (who Reaper began to put together was a teenager) didn't respond right away. Then he shook his head.

"No. I'm not."

Reaper was taken aback, and could only ask one thing:

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why?" Reaper asked, bewildered. "Why go through all this trouble? Why break me out? Are you a free-lancer for someone?"

"No. I'm not a free-lancer, I ain't getting paid for this." Mad Dawg shook his head. "I did this because I owed you a Seimei fusai, um, loosely translated it means 'life debt'."

"Why would _you,_ or anyone for that matter, owe me a life debt?" Reaper asked, somewhat taken aback by the newcomer's answer.

"Eight years ago, I was jumped by a black-market organ harvesting ring." Mad Dawg suddenly stated. "I have this… condition, where I can re-grow parts… and they believed that'd be profitable. Their leader was a real douchebag nicknamed the _'Organ Knight'_. So… for a while, I'm being cut open day after day, and the main reason why I kept going was because I swore I was gonna hang this guy but his own spine. Then one day as he begins cutting me open again, bullets start flying. Everyone's running for cover and a few stray bullets hit my arms. As weird as this sounds… I was able to use them when they were broken to get out from the cuffs… but it hurt like hell. As I started running, I saw… I saw… you."

Reaper was quiet, listening to the story. He remembered who this guy was talking about. His real name was John Grayson, he was a black-market dealer, but his big mistake was bad-mouthing Talon. Repetitively. He was offered several times to join Talon but he didn't want too. That was fine… until he opened his mouth.

"And after you escaped?" Reaper asked.

"I didn't know what to do for a while." Mad Dawg shrugged. "Eventually I decided that I owed you, a lot. So… eventually, I started trying to figure out who you were. I mean, it's not like you have a InstaPix account I could hit you up and say like 'Hey man! You saved my life! Wanna grab a beer?' But as the years went by, I found out little bits about you, stuff like you were Talon and so on. But A few days ago, I read that you were caught."

"So, you decided the best way to repay me for unintentionally saving your ass was to break into Overwatch's maximum-security prison and break me out?" Reaper asked.

"Yup." Mad Dawg nodded.

"You're outta your mind."

"Yup."

After a few more minutes of driving, Mad Dawg pulled into what looked to be an abandoned mine yard. Driving into a mine shaft, Mad Dawg stopped the jeep and grabbed a provisions bag. Helping Reaper out of the jeep he led him to a mine cart and sat him down in it.

"One sec." Mad Dawg said, he then proceeded to toss a large sheet over the jeep, and then the sheet changed and looked like the wall, cloaking the jeep. Grabbing a few extra cans of lamp gas, Mad Dawg pushed the mine cart down the tracks, gradually gaining speed, then jumped in and lipped a switch, the was a crackling of electricity, and the mine cart began traipse into the abandoned mine. Mad Dawg sat silently, checking his wounds and wrapping them in bandages, he then looked over at Reaper and slowly reached forward and Reaper instinctively recoiled.

"S..sorry." Mad Dawg mumbled awkwardly.

"No… It's fine…" Reaper muttered, allowing Mad Dawg to carefully wrap his leg and arms in bandages, he could feel little bits of his strength returning to him, but he was still weak.

"Here, call Talon with this." Mad Dawg said, handing Reaper a flip phone. "Have them trace the signal, we'll be out of here in about eight hours."

Reaper paused, thinking this may be a trap, and he looked up at Mad Dawg who sighed and quietly said.

"Trust me."

Reaper paused then took the phone and slowly dialed the secret number that would begin the transfer process. He said "Reaper, Zero-Five-Two-Two-Nine." And waited. After a few moments, he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Reaper?"

"Akande." Reaper replied.

"How are you calling this number?" Akande asked, shocked to hear Reaper's voice.

"I… I escaped." Reaper honestly answered.

"But…how…you…" Akande actually sputtered in shock, and he could hear the room quieting around him as things fell to the ground. "HOW?"

"I was broken out, by… It's a long story." Reaper sighed and shook his head. "I'm safe though, trace the signal and come get me in about eight hours."

"Eight hours?" Akande asked, confused as to the time frame.

"I'm… underground currently, in an old mine shaft to be exact." Reaper sighed.

"With who?" Akande asked.

"The one who broke me out." Reaper replied. Before he could ask if he wanted to talk to him, Mad Dawg shouted:

"WHAT'S UP BITCHES!?"

There was another shocked silence, and finally Reaper spoke up again, but Sombra's laughter could be heard in the background.

"You know who you just said that to right?"

"Dude. I saved your sorry ass! Let me have this!" Mad Dawg retorted.

Reaper sighed then groaned in pain, and Mad Dawg took the phone form him.

"Hey, if you're able, trace the call and meet when we stop. It'll be like eight hours and Reaper needs to rest. See you then."

Before anyone could say another word, Mad Dawg hung up the phone and set in in one of the provision bags.

"You hungry? You need a drink?"

"No." Reaper growled, clearly in pain.

"Get some sleep." Mad Dawg instructed. "I'll take the watch."

"Hm." Reaper mumbled. He seemed to go to sleep, but Mad Dawg didn't notice that he didn't close his eyes, he kept watching the newcomer, still unsure of his true intentions. TO Reaper, someone he accidentally saved coming back to bust him out of jail? What were the odds of that? Still, after about an hour, Reaper's body gave into the lack of energy and he drifted off.

Reaper didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up, but he felt rested. He felt like the pain was under control again, and most importantly, he wasn't in a cell.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

"Hm? Oh, nearly eight hours." Mad Dawg replied. "We're almost at the meet up."

"So." Reaper groaned, readjusting himself. "What's next for you? I know Talon could use someone with your… skills."

"As much as that sounds like a great offer, I still got one more person I need to repay a debt to." Mad Dawg replied. "But thanks for the offer."

"Well, once you've got your business all delt with, how do we get in contact with you?"

"You don't." Mad Dawg shook his head. "But something tells me this ain't the last time we'll be seeing each other." As soon as he finished saying that, the cart came to a stop at a set of buffers. "Welp, this is it. You need a hand?"

"Reaper shook his head and got out of the mine cart. He paused for a moment then turned around and looked at Mad Dawg.

"Thank you." He finally said.

Mad Dawg smiled.

"No problem Reap."

He then hit a switch and the mine cart lurched forward then went in the opposite direction, before leaving on a secondary track and heading in a different direction. Reaper watched it leave, then turned and walked out to the desert and watched as the Talon dropship came down. Reaper pulled off the gas mask he had been wearing and walked over to the ship, entering it he sat down and sighed, ignoring the shocked looks he was getting for the agents.

 **A.N. And… done… (FINALLY) before this note, it's clocking in at over 11k words and 28 pages. The reason this took so long to write? Well, I wanted it done properly. Hopefully this gives you more of an idea of who Mad Dawg is this time around. He's not afraid to embrace his… other side, but he's also quite smart when he needs to be. On top of that, he's got friends. Just who these friends are? You'll find out later.**

 **Until then, see you all around.**


	3. Freestyle

Widowmaker remained stoic on a rooftop, searching for her target. In the aftermath of Reaper's liberation, Talon had returned to what they normally did. Widow had been given orders to assassinate Logan 'El Scorpio' Trejo. He was the leader of the infamous Mexican drug gang the Demonios Asesinos, a gang who built a reputation for their cruelty and ability to slip through the hands of the law, again and again. At one point, Talon had considered joining forces with them in order to increase their strength and numbers, but the council had voted to stay out of the drug trade. Weapons and precision strikes were Talon's main plans, and ultimately, they had no reason to try and fight the demonios asesinos…

Until a few weeks ago.

For some odd reason, several safe houses were found with dead Talon agents and crates of guns missing. Initially it was written off as gang war which spilled into their safe house, and security was doubled. But after a few more safe houses were sacked, and bloody drawings of scorpions were found on the walls, it was clear that the asesinos were trying to take over, and Talon wasn't going to let that happen. At first Sombra had reached out to a few members, trying to set up a meeting so this wouldn't turn bloody, but after the call ended, Sombra was genuinely pissed off about something, she didn't saw, but it was clear that the Demonios didn't want to talk, and after a message was found telling Talon to leave Dorado, because it now belonged to the Demonios Asesinos, it was decided that Logan, and any other member of the Demonios who didn't clear out, had to die. Now, Widowmaker was waiting patiently atop a large rundown apartment building. Far across the town square she could see another apartment building, one which was owned by Trejo, and was a safe haven for drug dealers, one which the cops didn't even bother _looking_ into it, they were all paid off to look the other way. This made her job easier… somewhat. It meant the if someone was to assassinate someone, the cops wouldn't care too much, but at the same time, Trejo had his own security on the roof top, and while they were incompetent and unfocused, they did pose an issue. Currently she watched through her scope as four men with snipers patrolled the roof top. She knew she could take them down, but there was a good chance that one would radio to the others, and Logan would go into hiding. Suddenly, something hit her helmet with a bit of a _clink!_ And fell to the ground, glass breaking. Her head and rifle jerked towards the direction it came from, angrily aiming her rifle. She saw a figure a few buildings over waving, then pointing to something next to her. She cautiously looked down and saw a shattered empty beer bottle with a note, she slowly picked up the note and read it.

 _Gimmie five, I'll deal with the rooftop guys, then I'll get Trejo to the penthouse window so you can pop pop_

She shot him a look that clearly said 'No', but the other figure was already gone. She watched him slip through the town square and then crack his neck. He began scaling the wall with two odd things attached to his arms that she couldn't clearly see, but he was still climbing none the less.

"Akande, there's someone else here." She said into her wrist communicator.

"Are they Overwatch agents?" Akande asked in response, frowning slightly after hearing Widow's report.

"No… In fact I believe it may be the one who broker Reaper out of prison, but I cannot confirm this."

There was silence until Akande gave her orders. "Keep an eye on him, but make sure Trejo dies."

"I can see him right now. He's climbing a building, he said he was going to help me." Widowmaker explained in her cold tone, looking down to see some Talon agents in disguise enter the building through the side entrance.

Meanwhile, Mad Dawg was holding onto the ledge on the rooftop of the Demonios hangout, as he made his way around the corner, he activated his 'Claw Boots' and dug into the side of the wall. He activated his tripwire trap device and waited. One of the guards walked by and Mad Dawg jumped up and attached the wire to one of the guards' shoe, then threw him off the building. He skitted around to the next guard and prepared another trap. He waited for a few moments then jumped. He managed to grab two guards with the one trap and tossed them off the roof, they screamed and smacked into the wall, knocking them unconscious. He climbed up onto the roof and saw the final guard looked around panicked. He then turned around and saw Mad Dawg and verily slowly set his gun down and held his hands up.

"You're smart." Mad Dawg commented.

 _Bang!_

A muffled shot fired from somewhere and the guard fell to the roof dead. Mad Dawg looked over to where Widowmaker was perched and gave her a thumbs up. He then opened a door on the roof and slipped inside. Walking down the hall, Mad Dawg thought his plan through, or it might be more appropriate to say, began thinking of his plan.

 _Well you've been improvising this whole story, so why are you blaming me?_

I'm not.

 _Okay then._

Mad Dawg opened a closet and found his gear, namely, a black guitar case. Slinging it over his back, Mad Dawg walked into the elevator and hit the button for the penthouse. After a few moments of silence, the door opened and he walked down the extravagant hall to a set of doors. Dorado may have been going to hell, but the apartment buildings still seemed nice. He waited for a moment at the door before knocking on it, and after a few moments, a large man in a suit opened the door and raised a brow at him.

"Yes?" He finally asked.

"Mr. Trejo called for music, I'm here to play." Mad Dawg said, acting nervous, and it worked. The guard nodded and let him in.

Walking into the room, Mad Dawg set his case down and opened it, taking his guitar out and tuning it for a few moments.

"Ah, our musician has arrived!" A loud voice exclaimed, laughing. Mad dawg looked over and saw Logan walk out, wearing a jacket but no shirt, with pants and golden chains all over. On his chest was a large tattoo of a scorpion. "C'mon in kid! Let's see what you got!"

Mad Dawg breathed, pretending he was scared, then began playing, it was a fast song without lyrics inspired by dueling banjos and Mexican guitar music. He focused on playing and began walking around the room as he performed, Trejo following him laughing and somewhat dancing to the music.

"You're a natural kid!" He laughed, slapping his face with some powered and laughing like a mad man. "C'mon, let's get a drink!"

Widowmaker scowled as Trejo and the newcomer left her sights, disappearing into another room.

"Trejo is in the penthouse, he may be attempting to escape, hold until further notice."

Meanwhile, several Talon agents dressed as custodians began making their way up the stairs, they reached the penthouse floor and quickly dispatched the members of the Demonios Asesinos, except for the few that surrounded, and didn't say a word.

Widow prepared to get back onto the roof and find another way to kill Trejo, but stopped when she saw Logan and the guitarist return to the room, the view was obscured, but she could see the guitarist looking out the window over towards her.

"Y'know kid… I like you." Trejo slurred, clearly having had a little too much to drink. "You don't seem like your easily intimidated, like me! You can hold your tequila, like me!"

" _Sure…"_ Mad Dawg thought with a roll of his eyes. It was his healing factor which kept him sober after challenging Trejo to chug a third of tequila. It still hit them both HARD, but MD was able to recover. There was no way Trejo knew who Mad Dawg REALLY was, and why he was here, part of it was because Widowmaker was there the day Talon inadvertently rescued him from that butcher shop, and the other part was that the Demonios Asesinos were part of that nightmare for Mad Dawg. And he wanted to see Trejo die.

"I sure as hell wasn't intimidated when those Talon sh(belch)it hawks tried to get me off their backs. And I SURE as hell wasn't… wasn't intimi... Intimidated when we robbed their bases and jacked their shit!"

"Holy crap! You're insane dude!" Mad Dawg laughed, faking amazement. "What did you do with that stuff?"

"Well, my stick-up-their-ass's guards would encourage me to not say anything… But I'll let you in on a secret…" Trejo leaned forward, before taking another drink. "We're keeping it all in the basement." He whispered.

"Dude…" Mad Dawg whispered amazed. He then picked up his guitar and kept playing.

Widowmaker kept the two in her sights, remaining lowered with her grappling hook and aiming her gun at the window where Trejo supposedly would be.

"Yo Mr. Trejo!" Mad Dawg said over the music. "If you rule this place, why not let everyone know?"

"Yeah! That's a…a great idea!" He slurred, dragging himself up and stumbling over to the window.

"Trejo is within my sights, be prepared to breach." Widowmaker said to the agents at the door.

She saw something odd, he was lowering the neck of his guitar down, as if pointing with it to anyone else it would seem like he was dancing or moving with the notes of the song, but she understood that it meant something else.

Take the shot.

"HEY DORADO!" Trejo drunkenly shouted. "YOU AND ALL OF TALON CAN SUCK MY DIC-"

 _Blam_

With one shot, Logan 'El Scorpio' Trejo fell to the ground dead. The Talon agents busted in through the door and shot the remaining guards as they drew their weapons in surprise and anger at Trejo's death. The agents entered the room, checking for anyone else, and shooting Trejo a few extra times to be sure he was dead, and Mad Dawg finished his song.

"He's dead." One of them said in a wrist communicator to Widowmaker, who relayed it to Akande.

"Good." Akande said. "The men will remove the body, get back to the evacuation point."

"Understood." And with that, Widowmaker jumped and swung away into the alleys of the town.

Back in the apartment building, Mad Dawg slammed the guitar onto Trejo's corpse, smashing the wooden instrument onto the dead drug lords head, splinters digging into his skin, yelling and letting some old anger finally out. The Talon agents now realized Mad Dawg was here and had their guns aimed at Mad Dawg, who sighed, annoyed.

"C'mon guys…" He groaned. "I just _helped_ you guys!"

The agents looked to one another, then one of them spoke up.

"Are you the guy who broke Reaper out form Overwatch's base?"

"Yes." Mad Dawg nodded.

The agents paused for a moment, then lowered their guns.

"Wow. Just… wow." One of them spoke up. "Can I just say… that was amazing! But, like… Why'd you do it? Why risk breaking into one of the most heavily guarded places on earth just to attempt a jailbreak?"

"…I dunno." Mad Dawg shrugged.

"Boo!" One of the agents yelled form the back.

"Hey, I did it because I owed him a solid. That's all I'm gonna say. Now gimmie a hand here or give me space." Mad Dawg replied, beginning to cram Trejo's body into his guitar case. He closed the lid and attached the latches before swinging it over his back. "Well, it's been cool meeting you, but I gotta go, and so should you."

"Hold up there kid." One of the agents said, grabbing Mad Dawg's arm. "You can't just walk away from this, you're coming with us."

"Do you know how many bones the human body has?" Mad Dawg suddenly stated, growing dark. "It's 206. We start with 369 when we're babies but they fuse. Wouldn't you like to go back? Have as many bones as a baby? What if I could help you?"

The agent holding his arm wisely let go and the others looked to one another confused then stepped to the side.

"One last thing. What's your name?" The agent at the front asked.

"It dosen't matter." Mad Dawg shook his head. Then left the room before leaning back in. "Oh by the way, Trejo said the stolen crap's in the basement. I can't confirm or deny it, but you might wanna check that out."

"Alright." One of the agents nodded. "Thanks."

"See ya." Mad Dawg said, shutting the broken doors behind him, leaving the agents in the silent room.

"You got a shot of that kid's face, right?"

"Yeah, the bandana covered face? I got it." Another sarcastically replied.

"It's better than nothing. Sombra might be able to reach out and see if anyone knows this guy." One of them reasoned.

"Let's clean up and get out of here." One of the others said, beginning to pick up the shards of guitar.

 _Several hours later, back at Talon HQ_ …

Sombra, Doomfist, Widowmaker, Reaper and several other agents looked at the image they had managed to get of Mad Dawg.

"That's him." Reaper confirmed. "That's the guy who got me out of Overwatch's prison. His facial structure, vocal patterns and eyes formation is close to exactly the same, not to mention his personality seemed the same."

"And that's sure seems like the guy who I was watching the other day." Sombra nodded. "I didn't get a shot of his face, but the voice sounds familiar."

"And he is the one who… assisted in removing Trejo earlier." Widowmaker nodded.

"Fascinating…" Doomfist commented. "Why would he show up at three different places, twice of which were to assist us? What motivation could he possibly have?"

"I dunno Akande." Sombra shrugged. "Apparently his name is 'Mad Dawg'… Or at least that's what he went by when I watched him some ways back."

"He never gave me his name." Reaper commented, thinking back to the short time he had met this, well, what appeared now to be a teenager. "But there's no way he's an Overwatch agent. They wouldn't recruit someone this young, or if this was some sort of undercover operation, they wouldn't have let him cause so much damage to their own base. Let alone send someone that young to do it."

"And I'm pretty sure they'd have an issue with all the people he's killed." Sombra nodded.

"We didn't speak." Was all Widowmaker said.

"Y'know… He looks REALLY familiar." Sombra commented, thinking it over. "I swear we've seen him before."

"Well, if he's gone so far out of his way to assist us, it must be for one reason or another, and we should find him and figure out why." Akande reasoned regardless.

There was silence for a few moments as the agents thought it through before Reaper spoke up again.

"Should we tell her?" Reaper asked. "It it's-"

"Not yet." Akande shook his head, cutting Reaper off. "She's busy with work, leave her be."

"Found him!" Sombra called from one of her computers, and the other agents walked over to where Sombra was looking at a computer screen with an image of Mad Dawg chilling in the record store drinking a frappe.

"According to this, his name is Kace Teller… That's definitely a fake name." Sombra commented.

"What makes you say that?" Akande asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, 'Kace' could easily be his real name, in fact, I believe it may what he changed his name to from whatever his birth name was, but look at this." She finished pointing to a few other pictures taken from security cameras. In the backgrounds three stores could be seen, Kuick Kash, Ace Hardlight's and Appliances and Teller Morrow Motor Shop. "Now either this is the greatest coincidence in all of history…"

"Or he created an alias around those business' names." Reaper commented.

"What makes you think he's… well, who you think he is?" Widowmaker asked Akande, still thinking it all over.

"Well, I saw him get shredded yet he simply jumped up mere moments later and kept fighting." Sombra commented. "Also, this is a _LONG_ shot, but look at the colour of his hair, what does it seem like a mix of?"

"You're right. That _IS_ a long shot." Reaper sarcastically answered.

"Regardless, I believe it's time we make a stop at Palm Tree Records, and meet this… 'Kace' for ourselves." Akande stated, and it was clear, that it was an order.

Akiko peacefully meditated on the balcony of her home in Hanamura, quietly breathing as the cool night breeze rustled the leaves. Then she heard them shaking far more aggressively followed by someone grunting annoyed, then a loud "Crap!" and the sound of someone landing on the balcony. Without even opening her eyes, she smiled as she knew who it was.

"You know, subtly isn't your strong suit." She chuckled. "How was your trip to Dorado Kace?"

"Hot, muggy, fairly small, almost like it was some kind of small map in a video game." Mad Dawg shrugged.

"So, was she the one you were looking for?" Akiko asked, raising a brow.

"No." Mad Dawg frowned. "She was the other half of the debt I owed, but she wasn't the one I was looking for."

"So, what now?" Akiko asked. "Your debt is paid off, are you going to continue looking for her?"

"Honestly, I'm gonna take a break." Mad Dawg shrugged. "To some this would be the end, but to me. I'm just getting started."

Akiko stood up and took Mad Dawg's hand.

"That's what I like about you." She said. "You never let defeat hold you down for too long."

"Hell, I wouldn't call this defeat." Mad Dawg replied with a smirk. "I did finally pay off that life debt that's been hanging over me for years."

"I assume you're going to return home now?" Akiko asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yup." Mad Dawg nodded. "I should get going."

"Do you require a safe passage back?" Akiko asked as Mad Dawg got ready to jump off the balcony.

"Nah, I'm gonna take a shortcut." Mad Dawg answered. "But thank you, for everything. I don't know when we'll see one another again, but until then, may your life be one of peace."

"And may you find the answers you seek." Akiko nodded, she then gently kissed Mad Dawg's cheek and smiled. "When you jump, try not to land on the lilies. It's nearly the time of year when they bloom."

"Are you kidding me? Those are what I'm aiming for!" Mad Dawg smirked before jumping off the balcony and falling down towards the ground.

The next day Mad Dawg was walking towards his sort of home when his phones buzzed, looking at it he saw a message from Fire Tank.

 _Don't come to the store. There's people looking for you._

 _Overwatch?_ Mad Dawg replied, genuinely nervous but also feeling defensive of his Omnic friend. _What the hell did they do 2 u?_

 _Nothing yet. Haven't even talked._ Fire Tank replied. _But they aren't just record shoppers. U been pissing in someone's cornflake's again?_

 _Naw M8. Just OW's._

 _Good. Screw those pr1cks._

 _Keep me updated._

Mad Dawg put his phone into his pocket and turned around, deciding to go the movies, and then probably one of his other homes.

Fire Tank sighed and turned up the music somewhat before walking over to a woman looking through the Spanish section.

"Finding everything?" He asked.

"Um, actually I was wondering if you could help." Sombra inquired. "I'm looking for a specific record, this one. But I don't know what it's called." She handed him the picture of Mad Dawg and Fire Tank looked at it before looking at her.

"Should I know this guy?" He asked perplexed.

"I'd say so." Sombra shrugged. "According to the store records he works here."

"Oh right. Him." Fire Tank said without much emotion. "Naw he quit a few months ago, found a better job-"

"I know you're lying." Sombra cut him off, somewhat dropping the façade. "If you think we're agents of Overwatch, we're not."

"Can't help you." Fire Tank shook his head.

"Loyalty is something commendable in men and… Omnics, but the price of it is something many do not fully understand." Akande said, not looking up from the record he was holding across the row.

"So, you think that by threatening me, you'll find the guy you're looking for? Stop and think about that. Even if you blatantly attack me to try and get his attention, _which won't work because I don't know where he is_. You think he'd want to talk to you after threatening someone he barely even knows?" Fire Tank finished crossing his arms. "I thought you guys were smarter than that." He walked past Sombra without a care in the world then stopped, as if remembering something, and he seemed to be musing a question before speaking again. "Let's just say I did know where he was, for the sake of this conversation. How do I know you're not really agents of Overwatch?"

"Why does that matter to you so much?" Sombra asked.

"Personal reasons." Fire Tank replied. "If you wanna find him, check the strip club. "When you're done your lunch break here, you might see him there."

Sombra's eyes flared with anger and she went to begin hacking when Akande's hand stopped her. Noticing that he was texting someone.

 _They're not OW. Can guarantee that._

 _WTF do they want?_

 _Dunno kid. Keep ur distance._

There wasn't a reply for a moment, then Fire Tank turned back around.

"If you wanna find him, I can send you off in the right direction, but I can't guarantee you'll find him."

"And how can we trust you?" Akande asked.

"You wanna find him, you gotta trust me." Fire Tank replied. "One of the good things about being near the boardwalk on Miami, is that there's cops everywhere. No one really tries anything because the fuzz around here and ready to take your ass down." He said as if this was a normal conversation, but the message got through.

"Alright, where do we go?" Sombra finally sighed, realizing there was no easy answer to this.

"Twisted Metal." Was all Fire Tank said. "He loves it." And with that, Fire Tank walked back to the counter and answered the ringing phone.

"…that was helpful." Akande muttered.

"Actually, I think I know what he's talking about." Sombra said, realizing something. "The Twisted Metal Festival out in the Black Rock Desert."

"You sure about that?" Akande asked.

"Yup." Sombra nodded, her hand projecting an image of Mad Dawg in an insane get up standing in front of a group of people, one of who had a weird spiked mask. "C'mon. We're heading to the desert."

 **A.N. Next chapter, everyone meets.**

 **Also, the song for this chapter is called 'Freestyle' by the Taalbi Brothers. This was a shorter chapter, but I wanted Mad Dawg to meet Widowmaker. Next chapter things are gonna pick up.**


	4. Twisted Thoughts at the Freaky Festival

"So, what makes you think he'll be here?"

"Oh, c'mon Gabe, even if he isn't, it's been too long since we did something together outside of work. Besides, you look great!"

"No. Sombra… No."

Reaper growled annoyed as the agents of Talon walked under a large overhead sign built out of scrap metal which read in graffiti ' _TWISTED METAL FESTIVAL'_ Sombra smiledas she turned her lights on her outfit on. Her jacket lit up with two wings lighting up on the back. She smiled as the halo on her head lit up and began changing colours. Part of the festival was you had to wear something… unique. And since there was potential that their 'mystery psycho' (as Sombra referred to him) would be present, they _all_ had to go. Doomfist currently wore a helmet-like-mask that looked like a large skull, and he wore what one could describe as 'Apocalypse Armor'. He still wore the gauntlet, but he had a feeling no one would notice it was the real deal, even as they approached, they had noticed at least four other attendees wore large, gauntlet-like costumes. Some of them lighting up, some of them looking like a twisted version of the real thing, and one looking like it was made of cardboard. Reaper was forced into wearing a red cloak with some altercations to his mask, namely two long twisted horns on the top and 'fangs' along where the mouth would be. His cloak was accented with odd designs Sombra had seen on a game, something about a solider on mars fighting demons or something. Either way, Reaper didn't like it. But still, if Sombra was being honest, Widowmaker and Moira had it worst. First of all, the two women _hated_ this kind of social gathering, one rampant with drugs and idiots catcalling toward them. It wasn't helped that Widowmaker was forced to wear what essentially equated to a biker outfit, with a spiked jacket with a pink spider on the back, dark eyeshadow around her eyes and tight leather pants. On top of this, chains hanging off of her waist and arms with broken shackles on the end of them. While she protested to this, Hakim's reasoning that despite people probably being stoned out of their mind, they'd still recognize her. So, while she hated it (except the jacket, she didn't mind that actually) she understood she didn't have much of a choice. Moira on the other hand, wore a silver cloak with white accents and fur around her neck. She wore a masquerade style mask over her eyes and still walked with an air of integrity, despite most of her face concealed by the cloak's hood. The agent's walked onto the beach and watched surprised as a man with spiked hair, a spoked jacket, an odd mask, and a speedo ran by, laughing uncontrollably.

"Well, this should be interesting." Akande commented as he began to walk off. "Search the grounds, if you find him, bring him to the gate, we'll meet there in two hours if we don't find him before then."

The agents nodded and dispersed, Sombra clearly eager to see the sights quickly walked off towards where a group of people and Omnics seemed to be working away on computers, designing lightshows projected into the sky. Quickly integrating herself into their technology, she set to work designing a painted skull with rose patters that rotated around the skull, all while making small talk with the designers around her. Widowmaker, while still disgusted with the surroundings, walked by an area where people where painting a wall in bizarre designs, one of them seemed… familiar. It seemed like an animal paw print, but with scratch marks behind it. She mentally took note of it, believing it may be connected to the man they were searching for. She paused and looked up and down, the wall was plastered with bright neon colours, and normally that would annoy her, but there was something oddly… beautiful about it. Another woman walked by and held up a spray paint can, offering it to her. But Widowmaker just shook her head and kept walking.

"So, you gonna try the Leviathan challenge?" An artist asked Sombra as they kept messing around with the light designs.

"What's the challenge?" Sombra asked, perplexed.

"That thing." The designer replied, pointing to the gigantic metallic junk sculpture off in the distance. Sombra turned and looked with interest at it. "It's some sort of technical masterpiece, according to the mechanic, you need to hack it. The mechanic's built one every year. Apparently, there's some amazing prize if you're the one to activate it."

"I'm totally gonna win that." Sombra grinned. "When's it start?"

"Oh, it goes on all night." The man replied. "I… don't think anyone solved the puzzle last year, so best of luck."

Somewhere else on the beach, Doomfist was watching as two men fought in a ring, each one trying to push the other one out of the ring underneath the sort of dome enclosure. All around them people were cheering and whooping at the spectacle.

"Am I the only one who thinks that this is more than a fight? That these two warriors perfectly describe our lives and existence as we know it?" The man in the mask from earlier asked, sitting on a rung looking down at the dome.

"How so?" Akande asked, not looking up (partially due to the man's speedo being uncomfortably close to his eye level.)

"Well, everyone _wants_ to root for the smaller guy, the underdog. But what happens when he wins? If the smaller dude wins this fight, he'll probably be unable to fight the next guy. So do we root for the bigger guy? No. Rooting for the bigger guy seems wrong because he can simply overpower anything, and there's no room for him to grow. If someone's perfect, where's the emotional journey that help us grow?"

"Or perhaps strength is what we need to evolve. To get anywhere in life, strength is crucial, without it. We'd be buried under the failure of our ancestors."

"You my friend. Have a point." The man leaded back, holding onto the dome with one hand and pointed to Akande. His mask emoting ^ ^ Doomfist realized his mask was essentially allowing him to emote while hiding his face.

Meanwhile, Moira walked by where a bunch of costumed people were dancing on a floor. She shook her head and keep walking. She didn't want to be here, but from what she was told, that this mysterious figure could somehow survive any injury, even re-growing damaged parts. That interested her, it reminded her of something from time ago. Still, she wasn't sure who she was looking for, let alone _what_ to be looking for.

Reaper had entered his wraith form and was flying through the grounds, not seeing who he was looking for, and growing more and more annoyed. He wasn't sure if 'Mad Dawg' was here, or even where they'd find him. Re-forming he sighed annoyed, then realized he was surrounded by a group of teens smoking a hookah.

"Holy crap dude… It's the genie of the bong!" One of the drawled out, pointing to Reaper.

"Hey genie! I wish for more hash!" Another added.

"Your _wish_ should be to be let to live." Reaper grumbled annoyed as he walked away from the group. One of the teens threw a rock at him and Reaper whirled around pulling his hellfire shotguns, causing the teens to panic and stumble off. Reaper just let out a low chuckle and kept walking, looking for anyone who might know where to find who they were looking for.

About half an hour later, the communication gear suddenly sparked to life as the Talon crew gave their updates.

"I've found nothing." Reaper admitted. "I've been all over the place, but no one seems to know who were looking for."

"I think I might be able to help." Sombra replied. "There's someone called 'The Mechanic' here. He's some kind of celebrity here, he's hosting a hacking contest-"

"Of course." Moira sarcastically commented.

"…as I was saying, if we manage to solve this puzzle, he'd probably be able to point us in the right direction. Meet me near the centre, I'll see if I can solve the puzzle."

A few minutes later, Talon watched as Sombra furiously worked away trying to break through the systems on the large leviathan sculpture. Several other groups had attempted but eventually gave it up, not being able to figure it out.

"Well?" Akande asked, watching Sombra work away.

"This isn't right…" She muttered. "This coding, the way the firewalls are designed, it's my designs!"

The agents of Talon looked to one another confused then back to the Spanish woman.

"The design is a little different, but this is all my design! The layout, the structure, I recognize all of this!"

"How is this possible?" Reaper asked, genuinely surprised.

"We'll figure that out when we meet this 'Mechanic'." Sombra growled, quickly re-routing the power and disabling the security. Finding the access point, she activated whatever this system would do. As she looked at her screen, the wolf head form a while ago re-appeared and her screen got distorted. Growling annoyed she pushed that to the side kept working. The code was warping itself, making it harder and harder to get a grasp on what was happening. Finally, she noticed it was _spelling_ something.

You found me…

Realizing she seemed to be in a chat room, she typed back: _Who are you?_

I'm trying to figure that out

 _What do you mean by that?_

I don't know.

 _This is getting annoying. What do you want?_

Are you who I think you are?

 _What?_

If you can solve this, I'll know it's you.

Suddenly, the script reappeared, with a single line. Simply reading:

Activate? Y/ N/

Sombra was genuinely puzzled. This, was it? The Leviathan trial? Then she stopped, realizing that this was all too easy…

 _He's trying to trap us…_ She realized. _Wait, I wonder…_

If this 'Mechanic' as he was called was copying her style, then he was certainly getting the mind games part down well. That also probably meant that there was more than she was seeing.

 _Seeing… of course!_ She suddenly realized. Typing something onto the screen, the script faded away as the colours inverted, with more text appearing in the background, seemingly invisible to anyone who didn't know what they were looking for. Now she saw what the true riddle was:

A text box appeared underneath, awaiting the answer, and Sombra frowned confused. Getting up and walking back to the others.

"Anyone know what a Roc is?" She asked bewildered.

"A what?" Reaper asked confused.

"A Roc. Not like 'rock' roc, there's no k in the spelling of it…" Sombra mused. "I figured out the security, there's just a riddle now."

"What's that have to do with the Mechanic?" Widowmaker finally asked.

"Well, the riddle goes and I quote: _The Leviathan and the Roc. Two creatures of mythology. One fought with its fangs, and one with it's…"_

"Well, the Roc was a creature from middle eastern mythology." Moira explained after a few moments of silence. "It was supposedly a giant bird creature that carried and egg with it most of its life. Legends claimed it could pick up a fully-grown elephant in its…" She trailed off, as if she realized something.

"It's what?" Sombra asked.

"Talons." Moira finally answered before turning to Akande her eyes narrowing. "This might be a trap."

"Only one way to find out!" Sombra grinned as she inputted the answer. Moments after she answered, there was a loud roar from the mechanical statue, and the mouth of the beast opened, Sombra's eyes widened as she backed up.

"Get back! There's gonna be fire!" She exclaimed. True to her word, a large burst of fire burst out as a loud guitar riff began playing. Fireworks shot off of the top of the sculpture and they exploded up into the air, everyone around them began whooping and cheering at the fireworks. "THAT. IS. AWESOME!" The hacker forgot about her stolen style and just watched in amazement at the fire, which began changing colours as it swirled around the metal behemoth.

"The Leviathan, an ancient creature of destruction. Sometimes used as a representation of the devil himself, and sometimes a warning of things to come." Moira commented, seemingly impressed by the design and craftsman ship of the statue. Suddenly, a cloaked figure climbed onto the head of the sculpture, standing between two frills on the creature's head and pointed down towards them.

"You have solved the trial of the Leviathan!" His deep voice boomed loudly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Shadow!" Sombra shouted up to the cloaked figure.

There was an awkward silence, the rest of the Talon agents not replying (obviously) and the hooded figure waiting for the response that wasn't coming. After seeming to realize that there wouldn't be an answer, he suddenly disappeared into the flames. Adding: "Alright then…"

"Well that was… odd." Widowmaker finally spoke.

"You think that was who we were looking for?" Moira asked, looking over to Akande.

"Possibly, or at least he'd be able to point us in the direction of the Mechanic." He nodded. "But he seems most like the one we're looking for."

"If it's the mechanic your looking for, they hey." Came a new voice. "I'm Mad Dawg."

A figure walked up behind the agents, he wore the bottom half of a gas mask and had dark rings around his eyes. He wore a large top hat and neon green hair that was in quills of some sort coming out from the back. He was clothed in a bizarre jacket that seemed to be changing as they looked at it, the designs warping into new ones every few seconds. On his waist were what looked to be at least three separate tool belts, and his feet made an audible sound as the chains above them bounced off of the steel toed boots he wore with every step he took, and on his back seemed like what could be two small gasoline tanks, but one of them read 'Lager' and the other read 'MT Dew'.

"Agghh..." He grumbled. The mask muffling his voice slightly, but mostly deepening it. "I knew I shoulda put more juice in it."

As if on cue, a brief burst of fire shot out of the metal monstrosity's mouth making 'Mad Dawg' back up slightly. Turning around he held up a bag of what looked to be cookies.

"You guys hungry?" He asked.

Later...

As the six misfits sat around a small campfire, Mad dawg leaned back and sighed. He cast a glance over to Sombra, who against everyone's advice, ate several of the cookies Mad Dawg had offered. And now, she was feeling it.

"What...What...What we're in those?!" Sombra drawled, looking at her hands.

"Yeah, probably shoulda mentioned that those cooks were… made for fun… so to say." Mad Dawg explained. "You're clearly a newbie to the festival ain't ya? It's a pretty well-known thing. Watch what you eat, and _never_ drink from the coolers." Picking up a pump off of his belt, MD filled himself a cup of soda from the tanks off his back and chugged it.

"Wait. What's wrong with the water?" Moira asked, suddenly turning in surprise to him. She (and everyone else) had drank from the coolers around the beach, at least once.

"They're spiked with vodka and LSD or roofies." Mad Dawg replied, looking over to Moira then pausing. "Oh… Oh this is gonna be weird for you."

And true to his word, very soon, Widowmaker, Moira and Sombra had wandered off to try and find a place to sit down away from the noise which was oddly more attracting than ever. Reaper was acting as the DD in a sense, leaving Mad Dawg alone with Akande.

"When they come to, they're going to kill you." Akande chuckled mirthfully, not feeling effected in the slightest (yet).

"Yeah, but it ain't my fault!" Mad Dawg countered.

"Your headstrong nature is going to get you hurt, unless you learn how to use it to your advantage."

"Eh, I think if you ask beelezbro, he'd say my headstrong nature got us through just fine."

"Why did you break Reaper out from Overwatch's base?" Doomfist responded, dropping his guise and assuming this was the 'Mad Dawg' they were searching for. It also occurred to him that he had directly called himself Mad Dawg and most likely there wouldn't be multiple people with that same specific name. "We have reason to believe you've been looking for us. Is that true?"

"You're really him." Mad Dawg commented after a few moments of silence, his eyes widening in amazement. "Doomfist."

"Indeed." He muttered.

"I've been trying to find you guys for the past six years." Mad Dawg answered. "Breaking him out was just a way to stick it to Overwatch, and I owed him a favor. If I'd known more about who he was beforehand, id've come up with more of a plan, and probably not have written it in crayon..."

"Why did you want to find us?"

Mad Dawg fidgeted in the sand for a few moments, looking down at his feet before he answered:

"Overwatch claims that they fight for truth and justice, yet those assholes destroy more than they build. Because of them, I'm a monster. They use those who could be useful to them then throw them away. And they're seeding the world, making us think we're safe." At this point, Mad dawg raised his left hand, and several sprouts rose out from the sand, confusing Akande. "But those seeds will grow and choke us out, the world seems to think that we need protection, but all we need is strength in one another. Hell, if we don't uproot these weeds when we have the chance…"

At this point, the sprouts opened and a decomposed skull fell out of the buds, landing in the sand and then disintegrating into dust, it seemed to dance upwards, as if blown by the breeze. It swirled around Doomfist, and only now did he realize Mad Dawg was gone.

"They'll choke us out."

"That's… not your true intentions. There's more to you than you're admitting." Doomfist growled, feeling the effects of the water. But he also knew that he wasn't going to be defeated by it. He wasn't going to let this Mad Dawg get away. Dragging himself up, his gauntlet suddenly felt heavier than it had been before. He struggled to walk forward as a storm seemed to be setting in suddenly.

"Yeah, you got me. I kinda figured I needed to give a 'Reason You Suck Speech'." Reaper suddenly appeared to his left with a nod, speaking in a different voice. His mannerisms were very wrong, as was his voice.

"Enough of this!" Doomfist growled. "Show yourself!"

"I'm right here." Sombra said, appearing in front him, looking confused, Akande now realized that Mad Dawg _was_ with him, but he was probably just seeing things.

"Alright, fine." Doomfist shook his head, deciding he had to play along with whatever game Mad Dawg was playing. "Why are you looking for us?"

Sombra turned to dust which fell to the ground and the sand seemed to be shifting around and Mad Dawg's voice spoke again, but he was not present anywhere.

"This is gonna sound weird as hell, but I've been having these... dreams. Visions possibly. But I kept seeing you guys in them. More importantly, I've been seeing the scientist woman in 'em." Mad Dawg explained, his voice almost a growl. Two figures rose form the sand, seemingly made of sand themselves, both women, and one with angle wings and a halo above her head. "Her, and the medic from Overwatch. They **know** something. And for some reason, I can't remember anything before I was eight or nine, not for lack of trying, but rather… There's nothing there."

"I think I know why." Akande answered, realizing just who 'Mad Dawg' might be. "If you'd allow us, we can give you the answers you seek."

Suddenly, the storm stopped and the dust swirled in a tornado-shaped spot before Mad Dawg appeared, being formed by the sand itself, but given flesh by some other force.

"Walk with me." He simply said, before turning and walking towards the festival, with Doomfist following behind.

 _The Next Morning…_

Akande groaned as the sun bore down on him, his eyes adjusting to the morning sky. Leaning up, he looked around confused, not realizing where he was. There was no sign of Reaper, Moira, Sombra, Widowmaker or…

 _Mad Dawg._ He suddenly snapped to attention. _Where is he?_

Suddenly, he heard someone groan and a hand burst from a sand dune, and Mad Dawg dragged himself out from under a pile of sand, spitting and coughing violently he looked around laughing out loud.

"Holy crap! That was AWESOME!" He laughed aloud to no one in particular. "Next year I'm _so_ taking some more of those shrooms!" Looking behind him he realized Akande was lying behind him and scrambled up. "Dude? Dude! We gotta go!" He laughed. "Festival's over! Let's roll!" Pulling Doomfist to his feet he stumbled behind Mad dawg as they got into a jeep and Mad Dawg drove off. As they began to drive, Akande groaned, still feeling dizzy from the previous night, and Mad Dawg handed him a flask.

"Drink it." He ordered, and after a few sips, Akande felt much better.

"Where are the others?" He asked.

"Hell, if I know." He shrugged. "You and I were going nuts last night, I think they left early or something…" And as if on cue, Akande's communication device went off, groaning annoyed and still tired, he answered it with a tired:

"Hello?"

"Akande?! Where are you?!" Moira's voice demanded from the other side.

"Calm down. I'm with the mechanic." Akande groaned annoyed. "Where are you?"

"We don't know. It seems to be an abandoned school somewhere in the city, but Sombra's technology is dead, so we're unsure where we are, or how we got here in the first place."

"I know the place." Mad Dawg commented as he turned off of eh main road and onto another cracked road as he headed towards the town. "It's an old public school which closed down years ago. I've been using the basement as a hangout as I get stuff set up for the festival each year."

"Well, where is it?" Akande asked.

"Yeah, that's where we're heading." Mad Dawg replied, with a 'wasn't that obvious?' tone in his voice. "So, I'm gonna get this outta the way now. If we're gonna help each other, I need a few answers. Namely about why half my memories are missing."

"I can't give you those answers, not here at least here. There's someone else who would be more… suited to explain it."

Mad Dawg nodded and turned back to the road. The duo remained silent as they drove down the road for some time, Mad Dawg turned on the radio and listened for a bit, but kept changing the stations, trying to find a decent song but eventually shut it off and cracked open a beer. Before offering Doomfist one who nodded and opened it, both of them drinking as they drove. Eventually, Mad Dawg pulled into a desolate parking lot and stopped the vehicle.

"Let's go." Mad Dawg said, getting out and walking towards the doors, only to change his path and go to a boarded-up window which he then opened, the boards seeming to be on a hinge, he dragged himself through and Doomfist effortlessly jumped through, landing next to an overturned desk. The room they stood in was old and dusty, with cobwebs all over the room, it seemed like the school had been closed for sometime, at least a decade.

"C'mon. The basements this way."

Leading him out of the room, Mad dawg walked down the hallway until they reached what seemed to be the doors to the library. As they entered the abandoned room, Doomfist looked around, seeing some old, partially rotten books on the shelves as Mad Dawg kicked the main rug off of the floor, revealing another door. Lifting it up, Mad Dawg began casually walking down the stairs. Akande paused, unsure if he wanted to follow him or not.

"Well, they're not down there." Mad Dawg commented, walking out from behind a bookshelf.

"Wha- how?!" Akande exclaimed, startled by Mad Dawg's re-appearance.

"There you are." Moira commented, walking into the abandoned library, but stopped when she saw Mad Dawg. "What is _he_ doing here?"

"He drove me here." Akande simply commented, glancing over to Mad Dawg, who was drinking another beer. "Where were you all off at last night?"

"I…" Moira began to speak but trailed off. "To be honest, we can't remember too much from last night. I just hope nothing… bad happened to put it mildly…" She added, rather embarrassed. Her make-up was partially removed and it was clear she was still dealing with the aftermath of last night. Mad dawg glanced over and seemed shocked when he realized who he was in the room with.

"Oh, it was BAD!" Mad Dawg laughed. "Thankfully everyone was partying so you didn't stand out, but believe me. If you saw what I saw, you'd wanna stay outta the light for a while."

"The hell do you mean by that?" Sombra asked, slightly angered as she cracked her arm as she appeared on the other side of the room. Mad Dawg simply grinned and handed her his phone, and as she went through them, her face drained of colour. Mad Dawg took his phone back and she didn't seem to notice.

"Relax, I ain't gonna blackmail you guys." Mad Dawg shook his head, his tone laid back and almost dismissive. "I just like having some pics from the festival for my journal is all." He then noticed that Reaper had wraithed into the room. "Sup man?"

"Hey." Reaper replied in his dark tone.

"So, you're the mechanic?" Sombra asked. "I was expecting someone… Older."

"Yeah? I was expecting you to be better at your job. You can infiltrate Volskaya industries in under two minutes but it takes you nearly five minutes to solve the Leviathan's puzzle. Either Russia sucks at defenses or you need to get good." Mad dawg retorted without a second thought.

"That coming from the estúpido who drugged us last night, I'd say it was hard to focus when you roofied everyone's water." Sombra scowled back, but also shocked he knew about the Russian job.

"Oh, bite me. I brought my own fluids, you drank from the water they gave you. That one's on you."

"While this is rather… pathetic, to say the least." Moira's voice cut in between the two. "Who exactly are you?"

"Moira? This is, the mechanic. Also known as Mad Dawg." Akande introduced the teen who promptly gave a mocking bow. "He's the one we've been looking for, and it appears he's been looking for us as well."

" _HE_ broke Gabriel out from Overwatch's facility?" Moira asked, the disbelief clear in her voice. Mad Dawg however, just raised a brow as he looked over to Reaper.

"Your name's Gabe?" He asked with a mischievous grin. "That sounds… familiar."

"Call me that and I'll blast your insides out." Reaper flatly warned, his tone making it clear he wasn't joking. Rescuer or not, he hated being called that name.

"Meh, I'll just heal." Mad Dawg shrugged. "Also, you can call me Kace if you want."

"What reason do you have for helping us?" Widowmaker asked, looking over the teen, as if trying to place him from somewhere other than Dorado.

"Years ago, I was in a really bad place. Trejo and his asshole pals were running a black-market organ harvesting ring." Mad Dawg began, his face growing agitated, angered. "They kidnapped me, strapped me to a table, and started cutting me open, over and over. Things is, I can't die."

"Everyone dies." Moira scoffed.

"Ask Gibby about that." Mad Dawg retorted. "But yeah, I can't die, I heal really fast. Hell, I can re-grow organs altogether." As if to prove his point, Mad Dawg lifted up his shirt, revealing the years of scars on his chest, then took a knife and made a deep cut along his chest, groaning in pain before looking at the agents. Blood dripped for a few moments, then there was an odd squelching sound as the skin on his chest seemed to grow back until it seemed like nothing had happened.

"How…" Moira asked shocked, almost in disbelief at what she had just saw.

"Well, you're the same guy from the club." Sombra admitted, remembering the image of Mad Dawg being blasted away, only to get back up moments later.

"Anyhow, I was trapped in this hellhole for months, every day being cut open and having organs ripped out. One day thought, those two showed up and shot up the place." He continued, pointing to Widowmaker and Reaper. "Reaper shot a dude and the shell broke the chains. I had to peel the flesh off of my arms to get out of the cuffs, but regardless, I was free. By the time I healed enough I could leave, you two were gone, so I never got a chance to thank you. Years later, it seemed like a lot of my goals all aligned with Talon."

"How so?" Sombra asked.

"Paying off a life debt, getting revenge on Trejo, telling Overwatch to eat shit, and finding her." Mad Dawg listed off his past goals before looking over to Moira.

"Me?" The scientist asked bewildered.

"For a while I've been having dreams, visions, whatever you want to call them. But I'm seeing you and a woman with angle wings. There's something about it… like I've seen you before, but I can't remember anything from age nine or so onward, like those memories have been removed altogether."

The agents went into a silent shock as realization seemed to light up in their eyes, even Widowmaker seemed shocked. Finally, Akande sighed before looking to Moira.

"I think we've finally found Omega-725." Akande simply said. "After all these years… here he is."

"Omega-725?" Mad Dawg asked confused. "Why does that… sound so familiar?" He mused to himself. Finally, he looked to Widowmaker and quietly said: "Amélie?" Shocking all the agents present Sombra just grinned widely.

"Neuron!" Sombra suddenly exclaimed, leaping forward and grabbing him in a tight hug. Startling Mad Dawg (and the other agents), who seemed really confused by what was happening.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… What the hell!?" Mad Dawg said, shocked by the sudden contact. "Um… hi?"

"I thought you were dead!" Sombra continued gleefully. "I missed you so much!"

"WHAT THE HELL!" Mad Dawg shouted, pushing off of her and gasping for breath. "Okay. First of all, WHAT? Second of all, Neuron? What does that mean?"

"It means strength." Reaper commented, still in partial disbelief, but also having a hard time disproving it. "She gave you that name."

"Okay, wait. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on." Mad Dawg finally growled, clearly getting agitated. "What do you mean she gave me that name? Are you sure I'm who you think I am before you try and give me a name I've never heard before? And more importantly, WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

"Your natural regeneration isn't natural, it was a result of bio-engineering." Moira stated. "I should know, I was the one who created it, and to an extent, you."

Mad Dawg studied Moira for a few moments, silent and clearly deep in thought. He racked his mind for something, _anything._ But nothing came. Then, as if a switch was flicked, something snapped in the very back of his brain, several loose strands finally made contact with his brain and they re-attached, a rush of memories returning to his mind. Mad Dawg's eyes widened and he paled slightly before finally saying:

"Mom?"

 **A.N. Imma leave this here.**

 **So, the meeting has gone somewhat better than expected, where do we go from here? Back to the past! If you're curious as to what I mean, just stay tuned. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I'm still working on several other stories, so make sure to check my profile every now and again.**

 **Until then…**


	5. Let Me Get This Straight

"This dosen't make sense!" Mad Dawg exclaimed.

"What's so hard to understand? Do you not remember who we are?!" Sombra asked for the fourth or fifth time.

"No!"

Reaper watched as Mad Dawg responded in absolute bewilderment at the questions Sombra was bombarding him with. Questions such as: _How did you survive? Why didn't you try and contact us sooner? Do you not know who I am?_ But she seemed to not be asking some more important questions like: _Who are you? What have you been doing all these years? How do you know about us?_ Or even, _do you want to come with us so we can try and figure this out?_ As she had literally _dragged_ Mad Dawg onto the shop and had shoved him into a seat before the questions began. Granted, he was coming with them weather or not he wanted to, but he should've been given that choice before they forced him to go with them.

They weren't monsters after all.

"For crap's sake! I have… flashes and that's it! Why the hell are you trying to convince me you're my sister?!" Mad Dawg exclaimed. "Up until a few weeks ago, I only ever heard of you through stories!"

"I'm not!" Sombra retorted. "Well, I sort of was… but not really and…"

"Give it a rest Sombra." Reaper suddenly cut her off, she pouted at him and sat down. Opening her laptop and going through her files, looking for something. Reaper finally addressed Mad Dawg: "How about for everyone's sake we start with some basic questions. First of all, who are you?"

"Th'name's Mad Dawg." Mad Dawg introduced himself. "For the past few years, I've been living as normal a life as I can in the eyes of the public. According to my Omnic land lord, you guys found where I work."

"That record store in Miami, correct?" Moira inquired.

"Yup." Mad Dawg nodded.

"You also were responsible for breaking Reaper out of Overwatch's base, correct?"

"I've answered that question at least nine time now, but yes." Mad Dawg rolled his eyes, annoyed at the question.

"And you also assisted in the assassination of Logan Trejo?"

"Two chapters ago? Yeah, that was me." Mad Dawg nodded.

"Sombra has video of you working with some sort of gang, who were they?" Akande asked, ignoring his use of the word 'Chapter'.

"Them? Those assholes were called 'The Saviors'." Mad Dawg replied, clearly annoyed. "I didn't know them too well, Skorch didn't give them any second thought until now. I mean, I did some jobs with them because they needed another man on the case and they paid well. Redbone was the only one out of that group I actually liked though."

"And the only one who didn't betray you." Sombra added.

"Yeah… Man f**k those guys…" Mad Dawg grumbled.

"How did you meet them?" Akande asked.

"Underground fighting ring." Mad Dawg shrugged. "Before you ask what I was doing there, I needed some money and a way to vent anger. I would fight people and said people bet for me to lose, then I won and took their money. Sometimes I also had to kill them but that was in self defense."

Sombra seemed shocked by that, Reaper and Widowmaker didn't seem to react (in Reaper's case it was obvious why and with Widow, it was hard to tell what she was feeling) Akande seemed amused or impressed, and Moira just raised a brow.

"One night I ended up fighting Redbone, we went blow-for-blow and eventually he knocked me down enough that my healing factor had to kick in. Then after the fights were done, he bought drinks for the gang and Jade called me over. She was a little inebriated and thought I was older than thirteen... Redbone vouched for me and they offered me a place in an upcoming job. Things went well on the job and we all went our separate ways. Then over the next few years, I'd get a call or a letter asking for assistance, and the ol'gang would meet up again, do the job and everyone would hit the road."

"And then they tried to kill you." Akande concluded his explanation.

"Yup." Mad Dawg nodded, still very annoyed with that last part. 

The rest of the way back was quiet, mostly because Mad Dawg stopped answering questions and fell asleep. Sombra went to look for something, Reaper ignored everyone, Widowmaker was doing… whatever it was she does and Doomfist turned to Moira.

"So how do you explain this?" He simply asked.

"It… I…" The scientist struggled to find words. "I don't know."

"That's a first."

"Oh, shut up Akande." She grumbled. "On the one hand, it isn't unlike him to survive something… extreme, but on the other hand, how _likely_ is it that this is the same one?"

"Well, the age seems approximately right, you didn't add any enhancements to his genetic code in that degree, right?"

"That wasn't possible." Moira shook her head. "Artificial age acceleration just isn't… possible then or now. So, I believe you're right in that degree."

"And considering what he knows about us, our names and such, what more proving do you need?"

"You seem very determined to prove that it's him Akande. Are you sure it wasn't a misunderstanding while on drugs?"

"No." Akande flatly replied. "There's something in him. I can sense it."

Sometime later, the ship returned to the hidden base and the doors opened. Mad Dawg groaned as he got up and looked around, confused. Standing up he cracked his neck and walked off the ship, looking around at the agents of Talon who were carrying around weapons and other such things. A few cast glances over at the young newcomer, but no one questioned it after seeing Doomfist get off the ship.

"Oh God…" Moira groaned, realizing that a decent amount of people would see her (and the others) in the festival gear they were wearing. Mad Dawg cast a glance over his shoulder and smiled.

As the agents left to go get cleaned up, the work around them seemed to slow, everyone knew better than to ask what was happening, or even more dangerously, laugh. But they did watch as they left. For the most part, it was only Moira who felt ridiculously embarrassed. One of the agents did walk over to Mad Dawg to ask him something.

"Listen kid, we're not supposed to ask… but what the hell happened?"

"I dunno man. Doomfist and I dropped some crazy-ass shrooms and then partied all night long. I don't know what the others did." Mad Dawg quietly replied, the agent just seems shocked by that. "I'll fill you in later."

Following the others, Mad Dawg walked into what seemed to be a common room, the chains on his boots rattling with every step he took. Looking around at the two couches facing one another with a coffee table in-between them, come to think of it, Mad Dawg could really use some coffee.

Yes, he may have ADD or something…

Once again, Mad Dawg was somewhat unsettled, blocking out the voices of people questioning who he was, as this place seemed like a fleeting memory of a lonely road he once walked…

 _Wow. I didn't know you wrote country songs._

 **Actually, I do.**

 _Ha, funn- wait. What?!_

Regardless, Mad Dawg looked around the room before feeling something pulling him towards a specific wall. He didn't know why, but he looked up and down the blank wall for a solid two minutes.

"Did… did he break?" Sombra asked, confused as to what was happening.

"Unsure." Doomfist shook his head.

"So, are we a daycare now?" Hakim asked sarcastically, walking into the room and looking over at the newcomer.

"We believe that is Omega-725 Hakim." Doomfist simply stated, and Hakim choked on his coffee.

"Wait… You're joking, right?!" He sputtered.

"I don't believe so."

"Hey, this might seem weird, but what's behind this wall?" Mad Dawg asked, turning around.

"An old vent system." Hakim called. "He looks nothing like Omega though…"

"Anyone got a drone I could borrow? Or some sort of movable camera? I can't say why, but I feel like there's something in there… some old drawing stuff and a phone."

The members of Talon were a little confused by what he was saying, but Sombra tossed him a small drone and Mad Dawg dropped it into the vent. Sombra took control and began guiding it through the large dusty air vents. Mad Dawg instructing her at random times to go in a specific direction. Finally, they came to a dead-end which opened up into a sizable sort of opening. In one corner, covered in dust and cobwebs sat an old walkie-talkie, next to it was a box of crayons that seemed to both have been set upon by a rat or some other sort of animal, and disintegrated over the years. The agents currently watching stared in shock. How long had those things been there? And more importantly, who had put them there?

As Sombra guided the drone over slightly, she saw a drawing on the wall. Like everything else, time had not been kind to it, but it was still somewhat discernable. There was herself, surrounded by what looked to be code. A very cartoonish-looking Reaper, Doomfist with his gauntlet up and some flourish around it, Widowmaker, who seemed uninterested, Hakim with a blueprint, and Moira with a flask.

"Holy crap…" Hakim breathed before taking another drink of coffee.

"This remind you of anyth-" Sombra began but stopped when she saw Mad Dawg was gone. She looked around confused then saw him leaving through one of the doors, and she ran after him.

As Mad Dawg walked down a hall, a bunch of voices began racing through his head, yelling things he had heard before, but suddenly seemed more familiar.

" _It is named Omega-725."_

" _Only through conflict will we grow stronger."_

" _What do you want with Cerda?"_

" _Tell her about this, and we're both dead."_

Finally blinking, Mad Dawg realized he was in an empty room, a small cot in one corner, but that was all. Sombra skidded to a stop as she watched Mad Dawg lift the old musty mattress up and pull a knife out form somewhere and cut into it. He seemed to be digging around for a moment, as if looking for something, before pulling a bottle out form the mattress. Blowing the dust and cotton off, he looked at the bottle, then to Sombra, then back down, looking at the bottle and his hands. There was a faded note on it and he read it aloud.

"Feliz cumpleaños Olivia…" 

"Agh!" He yelled as a sharp pain shot through his head. He fell onto his knees and groaned in pain, seething for a moment then shook his head. His eyes almost comically wide as he looked back up. His head began violently twitching and shaking, as if it was about to rotate a full ninety degrees. Finally, with a sickening _crack!_ His head tilted to one side and then his body seemed to calm down.

"Oliva?" He finally said. "I…I…I remember now. I remember… Quick! Uh… crap… when did you guys find me?! I think stimulants are helping!"

Sombra thought it over before beginning the story.

 _Ten Years Ago…_

The dropship finally landed just outside of the small town known as 'Coyote Acers' just outside of California. Years ago, the town had known glorious times, and another name altogether. With a rich and vibrant community that brought life and joy to the small city. It wasn't uncommon to see man and Omnic living side-by-side without a care in the world. The town was known for its surprisingly large buildings for such a small place, but many of the buildings acted as offices for companies to rent or use as meeting, on top of that, several warehouses nearby worked with the fishermen who would bring in vast hauls from the nearby ocean. However, all that changed after the Omnic Crisis, the town was decimated by the war and then further torn in two by those who blamed the Omnics for the war, neighbour turned on one another and in a matter of months, the town was left an abandoned, rotting husk of what it used to be. Since then, there were a few attempts to re-vitalize the town, but gangs and drug smugglers had moved in, and any attempt to either build on the town or deal with the criminals was met with swift, often bloody retaliation. So now, the town was left to those who lived there. It was considered a smaller Junkertown, but also not as nearly as destructive. But anyone who stepped foot in the town would find themselves surrounded by drug dealers, gang members, and junkies desperate for a place to stay, and for more. It was pretty clear that no one in their right mind would ever come here.

Well, today, Talon had arrived.

Akande stepped off the drop ship and looked around at the town, cracking his gauntlet knuckles as the wind blew through the remains of the buildings. Talon had been dispatched here because they wanted to see if Coyote Acers could potentially be used as another location for a secret base. From a first look, Akande was very underwhelmed, but also knew that may be what they were look for.

"This is it?" A voice came from behind him.

Casting a glance behind him at Moira's newest experiment, the man formerly known as Gabriel Reyes made his way off of the ship. It was clear he was in a great deal of pain, and no matter what they did, nothing seemed to help. He wore a black cloak and mask to hid his face and body which now seemed to be falling apart at the seams.

"Yes." Doomfist simply replied.

"Hrgh…" Reaper grumbled.

"How's she doing?" Akande asked, casting a glace back to the ship.

"Moira's adjusting to the implants about as well as you can hope. Whatever hit her did some real damage to her face…"

"Hm. Did we ever find the test?"

"No."

Akande nodded and set off into the ruined city, as he walked he could see several people and Omnics look his way and them immediately run in the opposite direction. He saw Reyes turn to smoke and fly down an alley way, only to fall to the ground and breathe painfully before dragging himself up and continuing on his way. After a few minutes of absolute silence, he could hear something in the ruins. He slowly turned and made a fist with his gauntlet, ready for anything. He could hear the sound of raspy breathing and debris shuffling around, and it seemed to be getting louder with each and every step. Then behind him he heard what he believed to be a garbage can fall over with a loud _clang!_ He was torn between two sounds, unsure of what to do. Finally, the sound from the debris revealed itself as a mangy dog came out panting heavily before looking up at Akande and then running past him, over to the garbage can where a cat was looking for food. The two hissed and snarled and ran back into the alley. Akande relaxed for half a second, realizing the tension had been for naught. Then he felt something or someone grab something from his wait. Looking down he saw a figure dart towards an abandoned apartment building.

"Get back here!" He demanded, taking off after the thief. Said thief jumped onto the side of the building and scrambled a few floors up before disappearing into a broken window. Doomfist simply used his gauntlet to launch himself into the air and burst through the wall, stopping and scanning the room, he saw the back half of some sort of cloak disappear out a door. Charging the gauntlet, Akande shot across the room, destroying the office meeting room he found himself in and slamming against the hall's wall. Resuming his chase, he saw the figure somehow climb the wall like a spider and disappear through a hole in the floor.

"Oh no you don't!" He shouted, smashing the corner of the hallway, bringing down a sizable amount of the ceiling and creating a sort of ramp. Making his way onto the next floor he remained silent as he saw that the room seemed untouched, so either the thief hadn't left yet, or had some sort of cloaking device.

"I'll make this simple, give back the device and I'll let you live. Run and you'll die." He stated aloud, knowing of someone stole the ID device he had, they could gain access to things that, well… not many were meant to see. There was silence for a few seconds, then then he felt something land on his back and try and hit his metallic gauntlet.

 _Damn it!_ He internally cursed, he had forgotten to check the wall he had been standing in front of. At this point, he assumed he was fighting some sort of rabid animal, and simply grabbed it and threw it like a rag doll across the floor, he was shocked when claws appeared out form somewhere and dug into the ground, bringing the impromptu flight to a sudden stop. The figure looked up and hissed animalisticly, but it wore a large hood over its face, concealing what it was before running out of the room like a quadrupedal animal.

"Doomfist! What happened?!" Came a voice from his comm. device.

"Some… _thing_ stole my…" He began but paused when he realized that his id device was there… but his canteen wasn't. "Hold that thought."

Walking into the next room, he could hear a metallic scratching, and the sound of some sort of chains rattling. Realizing whoever or whatever this thief was, was in the room next to him, Akande charged up the gauntlet and let it fly, decimating the wall in a single punch and he strode into the room. Finally, he saw that the thing he was chasing was in the center of the room, the murky daylight illuminating what it was and…

It was a child.

A small child, no older than six, struggling to open the canteen, as if his life depended on it. It was frozen, looking at the hole that just appeared, as if realizing what had just happened. Akande could now tell that this child was male as he slowly moved forward towards the small boy. He wore what seemed to be matted and shredded track pants, holes all over them showed his legs which were covered in bandages and bloody medical cloth. He wore what seemed like an oversized, torn hoodie with most of the sleeves missing, revealing an IV tube wrapped around his wrist, the parts of his chest that were exposed by the holes in the hoodie had several noticeable cut and scars. His dirty blonde hair was waist length at this point, and most noticeably, in his mouth was some sort of metal device that almost seemed like an oversized retainer. But it was clear it was keeping him from speaking or biting. His eyes showed crazed determination and pure, unadulterated fear. There was something so familiar about him, but Akande couldn't place his finger on it… The boy seemed to think the same thing, as it looked questioningly at Akande, but still held the canteen close, not wanting to give it up. Suddenly, something hit him and his eyes widened in genuine surprise.

"Omega?" He asked aloud.

The boy froze, his eyes darting around, as if trying to understand if the man was talking to him, or someone else.

"Do you recognize me?" He slowly asked.

The boy cocked his head and hissed in response. It was clear he was trying to form words but the metal bite guard was keeping him quiet.

"Omega. Do you recognize me?"

The boy simply hissed again, it was hard to distinguish fear form anger in his tone. Akande frowned and lunged forward and grabbed the boy, which in turn caused the boy to begin struggling violently, he seemed to have small, pointed pieces of scrap metal taped to his hands to act like knuckle-blades and he clawed away at the gauntlet. Holding him up with his human hand, Akande found the lock at the back of the child's head and ripped the lock off before dropping the child back onto the ground. He stood back and watched as the boy slowly realized that the lock was gone and slowly removed the bite lock form his mouth. He looked at it angrily and somehow twisted the metal in his hands, surprising Akande. The boy's breathing was now stuttered, clearly scared, but also somewhat relieved. Akande slowly got down onto one knee to try and not seem as huge as he was and slowly picked up the canteen and opened before he held it out to the small boy, who slowly walked forward and took it. He looked at the man and then the canteen and poured the entire contents of it into his mouth, splashing some on his face and gave a small sigh of relief. Doomfist slowly pulled out some protein bars he kept on him and held one out. The boy looked at him puzzled and murmured something, mostly inaudible, but one thing was a little bit clearer than the rest.

"Doom?"

Akande smirked at that before tossing him the bar. Slowly the boy picked it up and attacked it savagely, tearing the wrapping away and eating it as if it was the first thing he had eaten in weeks.

"How are you still alive?" Akande asked. The boy blinked for a moment then pointed up. Looking up Akande say a noticeable hole in the ceiling, and the boy ran over to the wall and climbed up an abandoned bookshelf. He then jumped onto a rusted light fixture and swung off of it and then climbed up into the hole. After a few minutes, a backpack was dropped to the ground, followed by the kid dropping back down. Opening it, Akande found a series of small rusted blades and what seemed to be a lock pick. What surprised him the most however, was what seemed to be half of a granola bar that seemed to be mostly gnawed at, then it hit him. _He hadn't fully eaten anything because of that guard… possibly ever! And yet… he survived this long!_

"Do you want to leave this place? Go somewhere safe?" He asked. The boy looked at him, processing the words, then tentatively nodded. He pulled his knuckle-blades off and dropped them to the floor, it was clear he was tired, overworked. "Then let's go."

Standing up, Akande left the room and back down the sort of ramp, with the small boy following him. Something occurred to Doomfist and he stopped, getting back down to his level, realizing he forgot to check for something.

"Hold on." He instructed, lifting up his hoodie, he found a small 'T' mark on the boy's torso. Akande was amazed, it was really him. Akande slowly pulled the pulled the IV tube out from his arm and tried to clear off any noticeable debris from the child's face and hair. The boy gave a surprised yelp when Akande picked him up and swung him over his shoulder. The boy looked around confused but didn't fight, he seemed too weak so he just watched the building go by, and eventually get farther and farther away. Finally, he looked in awe at the drop ship as he was set on the ground. "Follow me." Slowly, the boy followed Doomfist onto the ship and looked around.

"Moira!" Doomfist called. "You may want to see this."

The medic made her way over to where she was called, groaning in slight pain as the implants on her face still required getting adjusted to. She looked at Akande puzzled before looking down in confusion at the scraggly child standing who peaked out from behind Doomfist.

"You appear to have a follower Akande." She commented.

"I thought you'd recognize him." Doomfist replied. "He's one of yours."

Moira cocked a brow before her face seemed to drain in shock, she looked down at the boy (Doomfist pushing him forward somewhat) and exclaimed him from a distance.

"It… it can't be! He…" She began but trailed off after a few moments, remaining silent.

"We never found any trace." Doomfist explained. "Somehow, he managed to get here and has been hiding in an abandoned building."

"Are you sure it's him?" Moira asked, still unbelieving it was really what Akande was implying it was.

"He has the mark Moira, it's Omega-725."

"Well…" Moira sighed, still shocked by this. "If that is the project, I guess it's coming with us."

While the conversation was going on, the child looked up and saw the masked face of Reaper looking back at him and slowly backed up, feeling uneasy around the masked figure. He bumped into something and looked up at a woman with brown hair with a few red streaks in it working on a computer. She looked down with a raised brow but when she saw the small figure looking up at her, her eyes lit up, there was loud gasp and the Talon agents turned and were surprised when Sombra picked up the small boy and hugged him tightly

"Welcome to the team cutie!" She said, nuzzling his cheek. The sudden contact and unknown gesture made the small boy struggle to get away, which only made Sombra hold him tighter. Sitting down with the boy he finally stopped struggling and seemed more scared than anything. "What's his name?"

"That subject was called Omega-725." Moira dryly commented, clearly wanting to keep it at that. " _It_ didn't have a name."

"Awww… Poor little thing!" Sombra cooed, clearly annoying Moira. "He needs a name!" Thinking it over for a moment, she smiled down at the boy who was looking at her with wide eyes and said. "I'll call you… Cerda." She said poking his nose.

"Cerda?" The boy timidly and shakily repeated, finally speaking to anyone on the team for the first time.

"Yay! My little hermano Cerda!" Sombra said happily. Pulling the boy close once again. This time, the boy struggled a little bit, but when Sombra rested her hand on his head and pulled him close to her chest and rested her chin on his head. He slowly leaned into it and closed his eyes before falling asleep, seeming to accept this woman as someone he could trust. Sombra smiled herself and closed her eyes with a wide smile on her face.

"You okay with that?" Reaper asked, looking to Doomfist.

"Actually, I think it's the best-case scenario." Doomfist commented. "It'll keep her… in line for now, and it'll give the weapon someone to connect with, someone to act as a sort of mentor. Unless you want to do that."

"I can train him to fight, but I'm not playing dad." Reaper simply replied.

"That's fair."

Sombra had tucked the boy into her jacket and smiled as she found herself falling asleep as well. Cerda was already in a deep sleep, perhaps one of his first decent ones in his life, and Sombra didn't want to wake him up. When she awoke, the ship was just landing and before anyone could stop her, she had slipped off of the ship and walked through the base to the mess hall. Holding Cerda in one arm, she grabbed a tray of food with the other and sat down with her new sidekick on her lap.

"Now open wide honey, and tell me when you're full." She cooed. Cerda slowly opened his mouth and Sombra smiled as she spoon-fed him. After a few spoonful's, the boy shook his head and leaned against her, seeming tired once again. Sombra rubbed his back and smiled down at him, standing up she began making her way back to her room, only to run into Moira.

"Sombra, I need to run some tests on him. Give him to me." Moira instructed.

"Hmmmmm… I dunno…" Sombra mused, rapping her fingers on his back. "What do you think sweetie?" She asked, adjusting the small boy in her arms.

"This isn't up for debate Sombra." Moira scowled.

Cerda peaked up at Sombra, then over at Moira, then shook his head.

"Aww… I won't let that mean old doctor lady take you." Sombra cooed, holding him tighter and pushing past Moira.

"Sombra! Sombra!" Moira shouted at the retreating form of the hacker. "Damn that girl…" She scowled.

"Do you want me to deal with her?" Reaper asked, appearing next to her. Moira pondered it then shook her head.

"No." She replied. "At this point, it needs nourishment before the remainder of the modifications are made. Should I try and force them on it now, it could kill it."

"You _really_ don't wanna call that thing human, do you?" Reaper asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"Enough." She said dismissively. "What do you need?"

"You said you wanted to try something, something about instant teleportation?" Reaper asked.

"Ah yes, follow me." Moira instructed, walking into her lab with the raspy Gabriel Reyes following.

 _Present Day…_

"Yeah! Yeah!" Mad Dawg exclaimed. "You spent the next week trying to keep me away from O'Deorain… and trying to get me to talk."

"Yes!" Sombra exclaimed with a laugh, amazed that Mad Dawg remembered all that.

"That explains the flashes! They were supressed memories! Holy crap I was right!" Mad Dawg continued. At this point, Reaper and Doomfist had come by to see what the commotion was about.

"What's he yelling about?" Reaper asked.

"Akande mother**kin' Ogundimu!" Mad Dawg exclaimed. "Years ago, when you helped train me in the gym, we were the Doom Patrol!"

"Y..yes." Akande stammered, genuinely taken aback by the reminder of the nickname Cerda had made years ago.

"I can't believe it! It's like my mind just repaired itself and- son of a bitch." Mad Dawg stopped himself short as if realizing something and running out the door and down the hall.

"Cerda, wait!" Sombra called after the running figure.

Moira sighed as she walked into her lab, feeling relieved to be finally out of that ridiculous get up. She wasn't one hundred percent sure if 'Mad Dawg' was the same Cerda from years ago, or even Cerda at all, but even if he wasn't, he still had unique abilities she was interested in learning more about. As if on cue, Mad Dawg skidding to a stop in the lab, looking around for something.

"Can I help you?" She asked aloud.

"Oh, Miss O'Deorain. Um, I was wondering if you had a CT scanner." Mad Dawg said turning around.

"I do… why?" She asked, puzzled by the odd request.

"Listen, I'm remembering _everything_ all of a sudden. The times Hakim and I tried to create a BFG after we played way too much Doom, when Reyes taught me to fight and accidentally broke my wrist, I don't know why. But I remember EVERYHTHING and I think I know why."

"Alright, how do you think so?" Moira asked, amazed not only by the sudden memory recognition, but at the fact that he seemed to have a scientific reason for why this was happening.

"Well, after… the incident years ago, I had no memories, I literally started over." Mad Dawg, sitting down and continuing his explanation as Moira adjusted a small hoop-like device around his forehead. "I always delt with flashes like I mentioned, but after meeting Reaper face-to-face, they became much more… apparent, more crystalized. I feel like the incident damaged part of my prefrontal cortex, but didn't _destroy_ it. Those memories were disconnected without anything to trigger them or make them apparent."

"So, all this time those memories manifested as brief flashes in an attempt to get you to remember. But without a powerful stimulus, like I'd believe you've had now, they wouldn't try and re-attach." Moira continued, realizing where Mad Dawg was going with this.

"Heck, they might've reconnected years ago due to my healing factor, but since I spent so long away from here, I didn't remember anything!" Mad Dawg finished.

After a few minutes, Moira, Sombra, Mad Dawg, Doomfist and Reaper looked at the scan. And Mad Dawg was right. One part of his brain seemed almost stitched back on.

"My God…" Moira said, her eyes widening in amazement. "It's really you!"

"Yes! Now I remember everything! You guys found me in Coyote Acers with that damn retainer thing in my mouth!"

"So… how did he survive?!" Sombra demanded.

"Well, whatever happened to him severed a chunk of his prefrontal cortex, removing the memories of his time with us. But due to his body constantly repairing itself, they weren't gone. As for how he survived…"

"Moira's the best damn geneticist in the world and she essentially created a superhuman." Mad Dawg cut in with a smirk. Moira was surprised by his comment, but allowed a coy smile to form on her lips.

"So, what now?" Reaper asked, taking all of this surprisingly well.

"Well, we do what I was built to do." Mad Dawg answered, a twisted grin forming on his face as fangs grew in his mouth. "We bring Overwatch, and the world, to their knees."

 **A.N. Wow. Two updates in one day?! I'm on FIRE!**

 **No really, I am.**

 **Anyhow, here's some of Cerda (or Mad Dawg)'s backstory! Hope you enjoyed! It seems like Talon just got a major player in their ranks… and Overwatch better be on guard… Anyhow, hope you enjoyed. I'm trying to flesh out the Talon agent's a bit more without destroying what's already there. Honestly, I really enjoy writing Sombra, and you're gonna see where a lot of (this) Mad Dawg's twisted personality came from. So, look forward to that!**

 **Also, I know I called him 'Neuron' or something last chapter. I got my words mixed up… He isn't called that. My bad.**

 **Reviews are awesome. See ya.**


	6. Welcome Home

Four days had passed since 'Mad Dawg' (or Cerda as Sombra constantly called him) had regained his memories. Maybe it was due to past encounters, or maybe because a new agent, and especially one with his set of skills and powers, was willingly joining their ranks. There wasn't much objection to him freely roaming around the base. In the blink of an eye, he and Sombra were acting like old friends, which to be fair, they were. The others seemed indifferent, or at least, interested to see where things would go. Except for Moira, for the past few days, she was working feverishly, studying anything she had about Mad Dawg's creation, and running several physical and mental tests on him. Studying his genetic structure and its ability to self-repair and create parts to replace damaged cells. Currently, Mad Dawg sat shirtless on a table, several needles poking into his back, taking tissue and blood samples, while Moira seemed to be intensively studying them, as if she had just found the last golden ticket.

"I don't believe it…" She muttered aloud.

"Is something wrong?" Mad Dawg asked, curious.

"No… In fact, this is outstanding!" She replied, walking over to the teen. "The mutations in your body, they seem almost symbiotic, but without the harmful side effects of them leeching of your genetic being."

"I'm sorry, Ms. O'Deorain, I really am." Mad Dawg sighed. "I have no idea what you're saying…"

"Don't feel sorry Cerda." She replied, showing him a tablet with several cells of different shape and colour that seemed to be moving around, bumping into one another but not reacting. "To put it simply, the chemicals in your blood caused a rare mutation, granting you your regeneration ability. On top of this, that, let's call it 'Beast Form' shall we? That is a separate mutation caused by an ingestion of multiple muscle enhancement drugs, combined with the genetic DNA of other animals which fused together to create a new type of genetic form! Now those two things on their own are extraordinary, but under almost any other circumstance, they'd destroy one another. But your body seems to be able to have both of them flowing through your system at once without harming you. Years ago, when it first began, I assumed this was due to the mutations being so weak, and in all honesty, I assumed you would've died as you got older due to the strength of them increasing. On top of the fact that your body not being able to handle the sudden changes."

"So, what you're saying is I'm a freak show who shouldn't be alive, but somehow is?"

"Yes." Moira nodded, before realizing what she had said. She was about to apologize before Mad Dawg cut her off.

"Cool!" He laughed. "So aside from healing and becoming that thing… What else can I do?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd know that." The scientist continued looking at her tablet. "Is there… anything else you've ever experienced? Some sort of freak event that happened once and hasn't happened since?"

"I had to re-grow organs once." Mad Dawg answered, frowning in anger at the memory. "I haven't tried that since…"

"Hm. Well, it seems like you have a natural immunity to some illnesses, but I'd need to run some more tests on your blood before I could draw anything conclusive."

"Actually, I just remembered something." Mad Dawg spoke up. "I've been poisoned once or twice, and I've seen how it effects other people, I get hit _hard_ by it."

"Interesting." Moira remarked, taking a few notes. "There isn't much more I can explain to you about your abilities at the moment."

"What? Why?" Mad Dawg asked confused. "You made me! Did you not keep the notes or something? Or was it like that power… whatever it was called girls show where it was an unrepeatable accident?

"As it is, some of the original documentation on your creation and abilities is… missing." Moira stated.

"Who has it?" Mad Dawg asked, suddenly pulling a knife out from his boot, making Moria's eyes widen in surprise.

"Now, now Cerda. There's no need for that." She said like a mother talking to a small child. Mad Dawg grumbled and put the knife away. "The files were split into three parts; one part was each taken by an associate of mine who helped create you. However, I'm not too sure if they would still have them, or if they would have destroyed them."

"Alright, so I'll ask again. Who are they?" Mad Dawg asked with a bit of edge in his tone.

"One of them was Jackson Bajahaimison." Moira explained. "He was a skilled surgeon who treated any injuries you sustained before your healing abilities formed. He also seemed rather close to you before you even opened your eyes."

"Huh." Mad Dawg replied, listening intently. He had no memories of this… 'Jax Baja' but he seemed like a nice guy. Or he was a crazed scientist. Right now, it was hard to tell. "Who was the other one?"

Moira frowned and turned to face Mad Dawg. The look on her face said plenty, and the mutant now seemed almost amused.

"An old-ex? Or was that Jax?"

"I'll thank you to _never_ say such a thing again." Moira growled. "And for your information, her name was Angela Ziegler-"

"Nice." Mad Dawg cut her off with a smirk.

"We weren't dating!" Moira snapped. Mad Dawg flinched but kept the grin on his face that made it clear he was just trying to get a reaction out of her. "She grew uneasy with what the experiments would entail and left. Currently, she works as a medic for Overwatch."

Mad Dawg seemed taken aback by that, going silent and thinking.

"Blonde hair? Has angel wings on her back and a giant stick?" He asked.

"It's a staff, but yes." Moira nodded. "You've met her?"

"No. But I saw her as I was hauling ass with Reaper out of Overwatch's base." Mad Dawg shrugged. "She seemed… a lot younger…"

Moira gave him a slightly annoyed look before she replied: "Her Valkyrie suit has… affected her body-"

"I'll say."

"Could you please not?" Moira scowled, now irritated.

"Uh, sorry Ms. O'Deorain." Mad Dawg mumbled awkwardly.

"…where she is still to this day." Moira concluded.

"What about Jax?" Mad Dawg asked, tilting his head slightly. "What happened to him?"

"We've… Lost touch." Moira answered. "After you escaped, Jackson decided to step back from the field. We kept in touch for a time, but eventually fell out of contact."

"Do you think he's worth reaching out to? To try and get more parts of the document?"

"No, I don't believe so." Moira shook her head. "At least, not currently. There may come a time when his skills would be needed, but Jackson had no quarrels with the work he performed, and wouldn't speak of some of the more… controversial experiments we performed, that's part of why I trust him."

"And part of why Talon's let him live?" Mad Dawg prodded. However, Moira didn't respond.

"There's one last test I'd like to perform, then you can take a break." Moira stated, attaching something to her hands, a small tank seeming to whir to life nearby. "But I should warn you, this may hurt."

"What exactly is it?" Mad Dawg questioned.

"I want to test your body's natural healing ability against my 'biotic grasp' as some call it." She explained, making a small yellow orb and a purple orb appear. "The yellow one has medical properties, the other one… damaging properties."

"I'm gonna regret this… but let's try it." Mad Dawg conceded with a shrug.

Moira nodded and activated the negative bionic grasp. She looked to Cerda who nodded, and she began walking towards him. Suddenly, the biotic grasp latched onto Mad Dawg's face, and the response was immediate. Mad Dawg felt like hydrochloric acid and molten lava were mixed together and thrown into his eyes. The skin around the left side of his face seemed to be scorched off down to the muscle, blood gushing out as he screamed in agony. Moira was horrified and immediately shut off the grasp, but Mad dawg's animalistic instincts kicked in and he lunged forward, the needles in his back being ripped out as he snarled, his eyes turning to a dark orange.

"Cerda! Stop!" Moira ordered, but Cerda slowly approached her, Moira attempted to use the negative grasp again, but Mad Dawg's hand was inches from her face. But the attack never came. Moira was confused as Mad Dawg stood there, surprisingly not healing. After a few moments, his stilted breathing could be heard.

"Oh God… I'm so sorry…" He whispered before falling backwards. Moira stood there, unsure of what to do, then activated her healing stream to try and stabilize him. She wouldn't lose him after his ten-year long absence! There was too much time put into him damn it! After a few moments, Mad Dawg gasped audibly and bolted upright, his face beginning to heal.

"What the hell just happened!?" He demanded. Fear and anger sparked in his tone.

"I… I've never seen that happen!" Moira admitted. "Are you alright dear?"

"No… That… I _felt that_." Mad Dawg breathed. "It was like when Logan was using my body as an organ farm… But worse."

"If I had to take a guess, I would say your mutated genes reacted far stronger than a normal person would to the biotic technology." Moira remarked, regaining her composure.

"Cool…" Mad Dawg grumbled. "I'm done for the day…"

Moira nodded and went back to writing some notes, Mad Dawg pulled his shirt back on and left the laboratory where Moira was working. As he started down the hall, he felt someone appear behind him and grab his hand, turning him around.

"Are you alright Cerda?" Sombra asked, concern clear in her voice. "The whole base heard you screaming. What did Moira do to you?!"

"Nothing." Mad Dawg rolled his eyes. "We were testing some stuff and it turns out her biotic grasp affects me more aggressively than others…"

Sombra looked concerned then suddenly traces a line across his face that went through his eye and ended a little bit above his mouth.

"Did you always have this scar?" She asked. "I didn't notice it when you first arrived."

"What scar?" Mad Dawg asked confused, taking his phone out and opening the camera. "Whoa… When did I get that?"

"Seems like even your healing factor can't heal Moira's biotic wave…" Sombra frowned, before suddenly pulling Mad Dawg close in a hug, resting her chin on his head. "Don't worry honey. I'll keep you safe."

"I'm not a baby Sombra." Mad dawg muttered.

"But you're my little hermano Cerda. I can't let you go hurt like that." Sombra insisted, taking babyishly to him.

"I don't know what's worse…" Mad Dawg sighed. "Moira's biotic wave or you."

"Aww… Is the baby cranky?" Sombra cooed, rubbing his head. "Does he need fed?"

"Let me go," Mad Dawg demanded in a flat tone.

"Awww… It's alright widdle guy! I'll fix you something to eat." Sombra cooed teasingly.

"Milk?" Mad Dawg asked sarcastically, Sombra in response let go and slapped him.

"Ow." Mad Dawg said without any enthusiasm. "Why can no one around here take a joke?"

Sombra shoved Mad Dawg forward and the two walked off, Mad Dawg was heading to the gym, and Sombra was heading to continue her work. As Mad Dawg walked towards the gym, he noticed several Talon agents who were looking at him with distrusting looks, and Mad Dawg's smile faded away as he gave a slight frown and looked down, his shoulders hunching slightly. Despite the fact that it didn't like he could, he could hear them as he walked.

"Who's the kid?" One asked.

"Seems like Moira has a new Guinea pig…"

"No way he broke Reaper out of prison…"

"Just some hang-around… He'll be gone soon."

"What use could he possibly be?"

"Sombra's probably just playing with him before they kill him…"

Mad Dawg began to feel paranoid, and that paranoia was boiling towards anger. He knew he was the new guy here, and if he wanted to get along with everyone, he needed to prove himself, but that didn't change the fact that he felt attacked.

" _Then again, why do I care?"_ He thought as he kept walking. _"So, some assholes think I'm weak, I could kill all their asses before they say anything…"_

Not looking where he was going, he accidentally bumped into a taller man who growled and shoved him to the side.

"Watch it dead meat." He scowled, continuing down the hall.

"Prick." Mad Dawg scowled.

When Mad Dawg got to the gym, he sighed, not feeling like lifting weights or running right now, he wanted to shoot something. He kept walking and eventually left the main building, heading down some stairs he got to an elevator door with a key pad on it. Pausing, Mad Dawg tried a few codes he thought of off of the top of his head but groaned when none of them were accepted. Finally, he looked around but didn't see any cameras present, he grabbed the panel and yanked it off the wall. Pulling a small tool kit out from his bag, Mad Dawg re-arranged several wires and smirked when the red light turned green, and the mechanical hum could be heard. Sticking the pad back onto the wall, Mad Dawg got into the elevator and paused, trying to remember which floor was the shooting range. Finally, he sighed annoyed and pressed all the buttons, deciding to do this the old-fashioned way.

Twenty minutes passed and finally Mad Dawg got to the bottom of the base, heading down a long hallway, he finally game to a door with 'Shooting Range' spray painted on it. Except there was another key pad. Mad Dawg growled an dropped his bag, taking a crowbar out he jammed it into the door and pried it open. He used the crowbar to hold it open and slipped through, the door closing behind him. Waling over to a computer, Mad Dawg activated the console and the program came alive, light blue lights illuminated the long room, the training bots fling out and lining up in a horizontal line across the room. Mad Dawg turned to see a wall opening with a hiss, and a weapon rack came forward. Smiling, Mad Dawg made his way over and looked up and down at all the weapons. Finally, he grabbed a sleek gray sniper rifle with a red scope mounted to the top of it. Taking it over and setting it on a table, Mad Dawg took a moment adjusting everything, magnifying the scope, aligning the cross hairs, before pulling the trigger.

Ping!

The shot seemed to scrape the top right corner of the training bots head and then hit the wall behind it.

"What?" Mad Dawg asked aloud, bewildered. He re-aligned the shot and fired again, but the same thing happened, upon his third try, he missed the training bot completely.

"Screw this!" Mad Dawg muttered, tossing the rifle over his shoulder. When it hit the ground, it fired one last shot which went straight through the center of the training bot's head, destroying it.

"Oh, come on!"

Walking back to the gun wall, Mad Dawg's eye was caught by an odd-looking weapon. It was crimson red and black, and its barrel seemed to make a large 'U' shape, like a trident missing the middle prong. He picked it up and turned it over, running his finger along what he supposed the barrel was. Finally, he found what he assumed the safety was and turned it off. With an audible _Brzt!_ A purple disc seemed to form in the centre of the gap made by the two sides, Mad Dawg held the weapon up closer, trying to get a better look at what he was holding, now seeing the dis was humming slightly as it spun at incredible speeds.

" _Is this some kind of sawblade launcher?! That's freaking badass!"_ He mentally exclaimed, a hopeful grin forming as he walked back to the range. He was completely unaware that Doomfist and Reaper were watching him on a monitor.

"How did he get down there?" Reaper asked, puzzled.

"He always did have a talent for getting around, especially if he was told not to go somewhere." Doomfist shrugged. "I remember years ago he was a decent shot with a rifle, but he seems to have grown rusty."

"When we met, he preferred a shotgun and explosives." Reaper commented.

Mad Dawg pulled the trigger, but the weapon didn't fire. Confused, he pointed it upwards and noticed that the disc seemed to be getting brighter. Mad Dawg let go of the trigger, then immediately realized what he had done. Jumping back, the circle of energy shot upwards and bounced off the ceiling, coming dangerously close to Mad Dawg as it bounced back up and down a few more times before dissipating.

"Huh." Mad Dawg remarked. "So that's how it works…"

Shaking himself, he returned to the range and looked at pone of the training targets, then to the wall. He seemed to be calculating something as he aimed the weapon at the wall, let the disc charge and then sent if flying. The purple disc hit the wall on an angle and bounced upwards, it hit the ceiling, then the ground, then bounced off of the other wall and cut a training bot in half, sparks flying as the top half seemed to slide off and onto the floor.

"Oh, _hell_ yes." Mad Dawg grinned wickedly.

For the next hour or so, Mad Dawg began trying different trick shots with the 'Blade of Death' as he had taken to calling it, running different simulations, some where the bots fired back, some where they ran, and others where Mad Dawg simulated running across a roof and having to fire at a target down below. He didn't get them all perfect, but it was still something. Deciding he had found a weapon he liked, he put it back on the wall and left the range, the door being easier to open when he was inside.

A few hours later, Mad Dawg was lying on his cot, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't know what to do currently, the author was feeling tired recently and was struggling to come up with new ideas at a quick rate, and was now taking his time to make sure the stories were entertaining to read, but not rushed. On top of that, Mad Dawg had no idea where he was geographically. Well, that was sort of a lie, he knew he was in Venice, but he didn't know what there was to _do_ in Venice, aside from watching the city slowly sink and ride on a boat. His thoughts were interrupted when the door suddenly opened and Widowmaker walked in.

"Doomfist wants to see you." She stated in her cold tone. "Now."

Mad Dawg gave her a thumbs up signal and she sighed in response, annoyed. Without another word, she left the room. Heaving himself off the bed, Mad Dawg left and walked down the hall, seeing Moira and Doomfist waiting for him.

"Sup boss?" He asked, approaching the two. "You needed to see me?"

"Yes." Akande nodded. "Tonight, there is to be a meeting of the Council."

"You lost me." Mad Dawg said tiredly.

"The council of Talon."

"Oh."

"As it stands, they are unaware of your… survival, to put it best. Naturally, when they find out, they will probably want to talk with you."

"That's not a problem." Mad Dawg shrugged. "If they're higher-ups in Talon, then I got no problem talking with them."

"Good." Akande nodded. He was pleased with how quickly Mad Dawg seemed to fall in line, understanding the hierarchy of power.

"There is one thing." Moira spoke up. "Or rather, two."

"Which are?"

"Until the Council wishes to meet with you, we need you to stay out of trouble. Preferably by staying in your room. And after they've met you, you return there until they've left."

Mad Dawg's tired look changed into one of malicious intent, and while Akande seemed amused, Moira wasn't.

"I get the distinct feeling your embarrassed of me." He said.

"This isn't up for debate Cerda." Moira growled.

"Yeah? And what if I feel like seeing the city tonight?" Mad Dawg smugly asked.

"Then Reaper will be dispatched to bring you back in _pieces_." Moira stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh no! The man who couldn't escape form Overwatch! How terrifying!" Mad Dawg replied in mock horror. Moira seemed to be almost fuming, then she simply sighed.

"What do you want?" She finally asked.

"Pardon?" Mad Dawg asked, another smug grin forming.

"What. Do you want. To keep you in line?" Moira sighed, rubbing her face slightly.

Mad Dawg thought for about three seconds then stated:

"A six-pack of Kaplan's Jack and Coke, a copy of _The Art of War,_ and one of those saw blade launcher things."

"That's all?" Akande asked, surprised at the very small request Mad Dawg made.

"Hey, if you're reacting that way, make it a twelve-pack and the new D&D book so I can read while I wait."

"Alright. Done." Doomfist nodded.

"And the other thing?" Mad Dawg added, looking to Moira.

"The others may want to see your… other form." She stated, noticing Mad Dawg frown.

"Look, I'm not saying no." Mad Dawg began. "But do you think that's a good idea? When I go into the form, I tend to lose control."

"We have our guards armed with stun rods." Moira explained. "Should anything happen, they would be able to sedate you."

"Alright, screw it. Let's see what happens." Mad Dawg shrugged. "I'm going to get some snacks then I'll be in my room if you need me."

With that, Mad Dawg continued down the hall, looking forward to getting to be an asshole to the rest of Talon's Council tonight, it was also good to see who else was in charge, and more importantly, who to trust, and who to… Deal with.

" _This should be interesting…"_ Mad Dawg mused.

He was right, but he had no idea just how right he was…


	7. Lights Out

**A.N. Warning, this chapter gets a little… excessive.**

Night had fallen in Venice, the moon was covered partially by the clouds, and the city was lit up by a series of street lights and lanterns. The water continued to lap against the walls and docks calmly, the gondolas floating in the water, rocking back and forth. Mad Dawg pulled a bandana with a frog on it over his mouth and cracked his neck, he grabbed a tool box and pulled a small silver device out. He carefully set in on the table and poked his head out the door, looking down the hallway he saw two Talon agents at the end of the hall, standing guard. Mad Dawg shrugged uncaringly and closed the door. Pressing a button on the small device, there was static for a few moments, then music began to play. Tilting the lamp head on an angle, Dawg shook the can of spray paint he had and held the stencil over the saw-launcher's casing. Beginning to re-paint his new weapon, Mad Dawg calmly grooved to the tape of Low-fi hip hop he made as he worked on his new paint job. Earlier, he had made it his job to cover the bland and basic gray colour with a layer of black paint. It had dried and now he was working on a stenciled design in a purple colour. Akande had surprisingly, (or at least, surprising to Mad Dawg) had brought him the few things he asked for. However, this _did_ mean he was now confined to his room, and could only go around the base with the guards (which annoyed them as he used the bathroom frequently just to anger them). But for now, he was content to work on his new project.

"Hey, Cerda." Sombra remarked, casually strolling into the room. "How's it going?"

Mad Dawg turned around and pulled his bandana down.

"Could be better, could be worse." He sighed. "Is the council here yet? I think I'm getting cabin fever…"

"Ooh… Well, hang in there. The council won't be here for another hour or so." Sombra chuckled.

"Oi." Mad Dawg grumbled, leaning back in his chair. "Listen, my memories are still coming back, is there anything important I should remember?"

"Well, let me think." Sombra seemed to be thinking back to when Mad Dawg was a kid.

"I feel like we're missing someone…" Mad Dawg mused. "You, me, Doomfist, Widow-Woman, Reaper, Moira, Hakim, there was someone else when I was growing up. Who were they?"

"You mean Baptiste?" Sombra asked.

"Yes!" Mad Dawg exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Baptiste! What happened to that guy? I haven't seen him since I got back."

Sombra frowned before answering.

"He left."

"Who killed him?"

"No one." Sombra answered flatly.

"Wait, then where is he?" Mad Dawg asked confused. "I kinda figured that the only way you 'retired' from this job was with a bullet through your skull."

"Well, that's rather cynical of you." Sombra frowned, arms crossed.

"Well, am I wrong?" Mad Dawg retorted. Sombra bit her lip, looking at Mad Dawg, then looked away.

"Not exactly…" She muttered, understanding Mad Dawg's reasoning.

"Boom." Mad Dawg said, striking a pose before turning back to his work. "I swear, if I didn't have the patience of a freakin' saint I would've split a while ago… that and whatever's shocking my brain…"

"Well, if you wanna hear a story about your times here, I got one." Sombra smirked, not having heard the last part. "Actually, it was also the first time Baptiste met you. About four days after we found you in Coyote…"

 _Years Ago…_

Sombra poked her head out and looked around the empty hallway, with a grin on her face she picked up a duffle bag full of tech and computer parts she was taking home for the weekend. The bag was rather heavy but she was excited to work on an upgrade to her invisibility device that may let her remain in that mode permanently, at the cost of not being able to hack, but still. She could figure that out. She was stopped when she felt someone pulling him her skirt. Looking down she saw Cerda looking up at her, seemingly upset by something.

"Aw, what's wrong sweetie?" She cooed, getting down and looking Cerda in the eyes. The small boy pointed down the hall, Sombra seemed confused, but then she frowned when she realized what he was pointing towards. "Moira?"

Cerda nodded.

"What about her?" The hacker asked, then her eye's widened as Cerda made a line across his neck with a finger, Sombra understood what he was trying to convey. She frowned, somewhat angry, but didn't know what to do. Still, she knew she couldn't leave him here, the look in Cerda's eyes was one of terror. Donning a cheeky grin, she looked back to her duffle bag and asked: "Cerda, sweetie, do you wanna come home with me?"

Cerda nodded feverishly as Sombra unzipped the duffle bag, moving some of the drive around she motioned to the bag and Cerda climbed in silently, allowing Sombra to hide him under a few tech magazines before closing the bag. Now having to carry the bag with both hands, she continued making her way towards the garage where her vehicle was parked.

"Sombra." Came a gravelly voice.

Sighing and setting the bag down she turned around and came face-to-face with Reaper. There was some black smoke wafting off of him and his breathing seemed more noticeable. Whatever Moira had been doing to him, she wasn't completely finished just yet…

"What?" She asked flatly.

"Where are you going?"

"Home." Sombra replied coolly. "I got the weekend off, I'm gonna catch up on some tv and work on some tech."

"Hm." Reaper replied, not seeming to care in the slightest. "Where's 725?"

"I dunno." The hacker shrugged. "Why do you care?"

"Moira wanted to give him a quick look-over to make sure he's healthy." Reaper replied matter-of-factly. "She said it's been a few days and she doesn't want him to get sick after living where we found him."

"Why are you asking me?" Sombra asked, nonchalantly.

"Because you're always with him. Moira wants to know where he is." Reaper answered.

"Don't you mean she wants to slice him open and see what happens?" Sombra retorted, a bitter tone in her voice.

"Not currently. The council wants him kept alive for now, so the kid won't be her personal experiment yet."

"Well, I don't know where I he is Gabe. I dunno, maybe check the vents or-"

Sombra was cut off as Reaper suddenly grabbed her by the throat with one hand and held her up in the air, more smoke wafting almost angrily around him. From a small hole in the bag, Cerda felt something coming alive inside him. Sombra felt her legs trying to kick at Reaper, but to no avail.

"Don't call me that. **EVER.** " The enforcer growled, his tone that of a man who could tell the devil himself to back off, and the devil would obey.

"O..kay.." Sombra managed to get out, and Reaper dropped her. "You really need to lighten up Reaper…"

Reaper said nothing but turned and left down the adjacent hallway, disappearing into another room. Sighing, Sombra picked up the bag once again and kept walking.

"Hey, Sombra!"

Sombra was about to growl in response, but sighed in relief as she turned around to see a tall man walking towards her wearing black-and-red armour.

"Oh, hey Baptiste." She smiled. "What's up?"

"Eh, not much. Was wondering what you did to piss Reaper off."

"I just talked with him, by the way, thanks for helping there." Sombra grumbled.

"Hey, I would've if it wasn't for the fact the reaper scares the crap outta me." Baptiste smirked. "That dude is tall, dark, _and_ scary. All at once."

"Aw, Gabe's a really teddy bear once you get to know him." Sombra laughed in response. "Once you get past the cold frozen exterior lies the heart of a true boy scout."

"Okay. Sure." Baptiste laughed, suddenly picking up the bag and tossing it over his shoulder. "Geez! How much stuff do you have in here?!"

Sombra bit her lip as she heard a muffled yelp before finally replying:

"A lot."

As the two kept walking to Sombra's car, the hacker kept eyeing the bag nervously. The way Baptiste was jostling it about made her paranoid for two reasons. One, the tech was breakable, and two, Cerda. Inside the bag, Cerda was getting angered somewhat by the metal boxes constantly scraping and bumping into him. He let out a low growl and punched what he thought was Sombra.

"Ow!" Baptiste exclaimed suddenly. "Geez Sombra, do you have a racoon in here?"

"No. But the stuff in there is _very_ breakable." Sombra finally said matter-of-factly.

"Heh, just a bunch of tech junk." He rolled his eyes. As Sombra opened the trunk, he set the bag down and turned to her. "Hey, did you hear that Moira has some sort of living experiment? Some sort of genetic monster or something like that."

Sombra was about to respond when Baptiste noticed something moving about in the bag. He looked from Sombra, then to the bag, then back to Sombra. Reaching forward, he unzipped the flap.

"No! Wait!" Sombra exclaimed.

When Baptiste tossed the flap back, he took a few steps back as Cerda popped up, a magazine opened on top of his head, making a sort of hat. The two looked at one another wordlessly before Baptiste turned to Sombra.

"Sombra-"

"I can explain." The hacker began.

"What the hell?"

"What the hell." Cerda repeated.

"Is… is this your kid or something? Or is Talon doing some real messed up sh-"

"He's not my son." Sombra cut him off, a bit miffed. "He's Moira's."

Baptiste seemed to freeze, the clasped his hands together, with dual finger guns as he thought about what he had heard. He turned, pointing his clasped fingers to Cerda then back to Sombra.

"He's Moira's?" He said in an almost dull tone.

"Yes."

"Who's his dad?"

"She created him. He's the genetic monster you were talking about earlier."

"Oh." Baptiste said, surprised. "Whack." He then smiled down at Cerda. "Hey buddy, I'm Baptiste."

Cerda gave a small wave but didn't say anything, unsure of what to do.

"I call him Cerda, he seems to like it." Sombra added over Baptiste's shoulder.

"So, you wanna explain why he's in your duffle bag? I don't think Talon is the group of people to play hide-and-seek, or participate in take-your-kid-to-work-day."

"Moira wants to hurt the poor baby." Sombra cooed, plucking Cerda form the bag and hugging him close. "I don't wanna let her cut him apart."

"You sure she'd do that?" Baptiste questioned. "Sure, she's kind of a bitch, but I don't think she'd cut up one of her only successful experiments…"

"Bitch." Cerda repeated.

"Seriously Baptiste?! Stop giving him things to say!" Sombra exclaimed, a bit annoyed. "I was supposed to be the one who teaches him how to swear!"

"Okay, fine. But why do _you_ have him?" Baptiste repeated himself.

"Well, I don't want to take the risk that Moira poses to Cerda." Sombra replied, walking around and putting Cerda into her car. "I think you're right and she wouldn't hurt him, but at the same time, I don't like leaving him alone with Reaper and the others. I'm gonna be gone for a few days, so if anyone asks, I haven't seen Cerda. But if you need anything, call."

"Got it." Baptiste replied, walking away with a dismissive wave. Once Cerda was secured in her car, Sombra got into the driver seat and took off, a smirk on her face as she thought how Moira was going to react.

 _Present Day_

"Huh." Mad Dawg said flatly. "Man, Baptiste was a chill dude."

"Yeah, I miss him sometimes." Sombra agreed.

"Whoa, hold on." Mad Dawg suddenly said, surprised. "You _care_ for someone other than yourself!? I'm shocked!"

Sombra gave him a flat look and was about to reply, when the door opened and a Talon agent walked in.

"Sombra, it's time to go." He stated. The hacker nodded and got up and left the room. Mad Dawg sighed, finding himself once again in silence, and turned back to his blade launcher, pulling his bandana up and returning to work.

About ten minutes later, Doomfist, Reaper and Moira sat at a large table, also sitting with them was Maximilen, the Omnic casino owner, Sanjay Korpal, negotiator of Vishkar, Abasheck Delauchland, a Talon agent who worked on the financial side of things, Rorschach Moore, a high-ranking member of Talon, Lachlan DeNiro, a man with connections everywhere, and Laurel Glacéau, an filmmaker who used her sets to smuggle weapons for Talon. Hakim, Widowmaker and Sombra were also present, Hakim was sipping on his coffee and Sombra was tapping on the table, bored already.

"… and despite the brief lapse we had in loyalty, the product has been received and payment has been made." Abasheck finished, looking up from his tablet. There were a few murmurs until Doomfist spoke up.

"Yes… that 'lapse in loyalty' as you put it." He mused. "What happened to those who had second thoughts?"

"They've been delt with." Abasheck replied immediately. "I saw to that myself, the others took the message clearly. They were reminded that Talon dosen't tolerate deserters."

"Good."

Sombra sighed quietly, she wasn't sure who had it worse, her, or Mad Dawg. On the one hand, she'd kill to get out of here, but in Mad Dawg's case, he was stuck in a room alone. But then again, he had a twelve-pack that was probably helping the time pass. Speaking of Mad Dawg, he was currently in the rest room, trying to kill as much time as possible as he carved a cartoonish wolf head into the wall, only to hear a banging on the outside door.

"HEY!" One of the two agents assigned to watching him shouted. "Hurry up!"

"Eat my asshole!" Mad Dawg retorted, hearing the guard groan in annoyance.

When Mad Dawg returned to his room, he sighed and found the small book he tossed onto his bed. He remembered at one point Akiko had told him to read _The Art of War,_ he picked it up and began flipping through several pages until he stopped at a section that interested him. Waging War. Reading the generals writings, there was a specific quote that caught his attention.

"The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice." He read aloud. "Huh…"

Mad Dawg thought about some of his recent escapades, sure dealing with Lebowski and Trejo had been rather easy… but that was partially because he had help from Widowmaker with Logan, and Lebowski would have been laughed out of Talon try-outs… But breaking Reaper out? Man, Dawg's plan was sloppy at best. If he was going to work with Talon, let alone settle some scores with Overwatch… he had to be better. Even here, he had tried to sneak out of his room a few times, but he kept feeling a shock in his head every time he reached a certain distance didn't have the guards with him. There was something… different about these shocks though. They _hurt._ At least, hurt enough they convinced Mad Dawg not to try any more escape attempts.

"Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards." Mad Dawg continued. "Hm. Well, Talon seems to be doing that…"

Mad Dawg began thinking about the reasoning behind Talon, sure, Akande had stated it was about strength, and growing through conflict, but why did people join Talon? Revenge? Bloodlust? Boredom? For Mad Dawg, it was kinda a mixture of those three, but also a sense of family… but Mad Dawg was the one-in-a-fifty-quintillion-acceptation to _any_ rule. So why did the others join?

Poking his head out the door, Mad Dawg called "Hey!" to the duo at the end of the hall.

"NO!" one of them shouted. "We are NOT going to the bathroom again!"

"I don't need to piss, I just wanted to talk." Mad Dawg replied.

The two slowly made their way to the doorway and stopped, one of the two sighing audibly.

"Whaddya want kid?" He asked gruffly.

"Why'd you join Talon?" Mad Dawg asked.

The two went silent, looking to one another, then back to Mad Dawg.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you here? What keeps you around?" Mad Dawg asked, re-phrasing his question.

"I'm sorry, why do you care?" The man asked.

"Just talking. I'm curious what the reward you're after is."

The two went silent, until the second one, a woman answered:

"I want to make a change. The world is being driven into the ground the way it is, no one seems to care, no one but Talon. Only when our job is complete will the world be a better place."

"And you?" Mad Dawg asked the man.

"Simple, we can keep the scores from jobs, pays a hell of a lot better than any job you can find. Sure, the work's kinda dirty, but if you wanna ever get rich, you need to get your hands dirty at some point."

"Cool." Mad Dawg nodded. "I can respect that."

"Alright, we answered your questions, now you gotta answer mine." The man stated suddenly, but by his tone, it was clear this was something he had wanted to do for a while.

"Seems fair." Mad Dawg shrugged, happy to at least have someone to talk to.

"Who are you, and why does Talon seem so infatuated with you?" He asked, bluntly.

"Long story short, I have a history with a few of the agents." Mad Dawg began, leaning against the doorway. "Our paths crossed a few months ago, and it seemed like everywhere I went, I ran into them. I was chilling in Dorado, ended up in Widow-Woman's crosshairs, ended up helping her kill Logan Trejo."

The two went quiet, seeming to realize who this newcomer was. All of Talon had heard about a supposed maniac who broke into Overwatch's 'Titan Cell' and escaped with Reaper, and how he supposedly had not only assisted in Logan Trejo's death, but also disappeared into thin air. While many agents simply dismissed these rumors, there were a few who thought there may be some truth, or at least a person behind these rumors.

"You're him. Aren't you?" The woman asked. "That guy everyone's been talking about. The guy who broke Reaper out from Titans Cell."

"Well, I wouldn't say that… but… yeah. That's me." Mad Dawg admitted.

"No. That's a load of crap." The man shook his head. "A lanky kid like you? You would've been torn apart by Overwatch."

"I almost was, but I was stupidly lucky." Mad Dawg replied.

"Sure." The man replied with a roll of his eyes, before answering an incoming call, walking away, leaving Mad Dawg and the woman.

"My name's Taylor, by the way." Taylor introduced herself.

"Kace." Mad Dawg smiled.

 _Meanwhile…_

"So, Ms. O'Deorain, you claim to have found an old… experiment, was it? Would you care to explain?" Maximilen asked, drawing their attention to another matter of business.

"Of course." Moira nodded. "I'm not sure how many of you do remember this, but a number of years ago, I was working on a project codenamed Dawn Breaker. While the name may sound familiar to a few council members, but many of us had merely been agents of Talon when this project was in its infancy stages."

"Quite literally." Sombra muttered, earning her an annoyed glare from the biologist.

"Years ago, the main subject Dawn Breaker, Omega-725 was thought to have been killed, however, a few weeks ago, Sombra came across someone with extreme athletically abilities and superhuman durability. This same newcomer would be the one who broke Reaper out of Titans Cell, and assisted Widowmaker in assassinating Logan Trejo."

"So, what you're telling us is that a failed science experiment of yours that _died_ has somehow come back to life and has been randomly assisting us?" Sanjay finally spoke up, disbelief clear in his voice. Moira looked to Sombra and nodded. Sombra sent a video to the screen at the end of the table, showing Mad Dawg being gunned down by Lebowski's men, then pulling himself up and then brutally killing everyone. The video cut to Reaper being carried by a blur as they ran past the security camera, the running figure was clearly heard laughing.

"As much as I'd question how a supposedly dead experiment managed to break in and out of Titans Cell, the undeniable fact is that something did." Lachlan admitted with a slight shake of his head. "All of my contacts were going nuts, there were rumors of some new player on the streets. Apparently, he's got a bit of a record, but the people how know about it don't want to say anything."

"Omega was some of my finest work, he was a rare success the like of which I believe cannot be duplicated, and is now impossible to re-create with the assistants I had…" She grumbled the last part as she continued her explanation. "It possesses a natural regeneration ability, allowing him to survive what would be fatal blows from many kinds of weapons, he also seems to have an immunity to some types of toxins. He also can change his physical body."

"What do you mean by that?" Laurel asked.

"I need to consult my notes, but he appears to have a sort of symbiotic entity living in his genetic coding." The Biologist began. "It can modify its skeletal and genetic structure and reform its own material to take on another form altogether."

The room went silent, those who had met Mad Dawg (or seen security tapes) understood what the scientist said, the others had no idea what half the words she had just said meant.

"To put that in English, he can change into a giant death beast." Sombra snarked. "I know that sounds hard to believe, but ask Reaper. He saw it." Reaper silently nodded in conformation.

As they turned back to Moira, asking for an explanation, she heard the doors open behind her.

"Ah, Omega." She said turning around. "Please, come in, there are some people I would like you to meet."

The other council members turned to look as Mad Dawg walked into the room, cracking his neck audibly to each side before stopping at the end of the table next to Doomfist.

"This, is Project Dawn Breaker, test subject Omega-725." Moira introduced Mad Dawg with a noticeable amount of pride in her voice.

"Hello." Mad Dawg said, raising a few fingers in a slight wave. "Th'names Mad Dawg."

There wasn't a response from the council until Laurel spoke up.

" _THIS_ is the creation you've been talking about?" She asked in disbelief. "He looks like we started recruiting agents from drug rehab clinics!"

"Oh shit, that's how it's gonna be?" Mad Dawg replied, his eyes narrowing, but before he could say anything, Moira gave him a look and Mad Dawg bit his lip.

"Looks can be quite deceiving Laurel." Doomfist now spoke, his tone still casual. "Besides, he has proven to be quite useful at getting around inconspicuously, something which admittedly, not many of us are capable of."

"Are you suggesting we're bad at what we do, Akande?" Rorschach growled, the hot-headed agent leaning forward slightly.

"Not at all sir." Mad Dawg spoke, getting everyone's attention. "But if I may, allow me to explain. Someone like Reaper of Widowmaker would stand out anywhere but a Goth lounge, Mr. Maximilen is a well-known casino operator, so him going to a darkened alleyway to make deals would immediately be seen as shifty. Laurel's a filmmaker, so she has a social image to uphold, Doomfist… well, he's one of the most wanted men on the planet right now. Sanjay is a member of one of the biggest corporations on earth, so he also usually has eyes on him. Hell, that's why a meeting like this can be so tricky, just _getting_ here for half of you is a risk that you'd be found out. Then not only would your social careers be over, but you'd also be screwed in the sense that people would know, or at least start rumors, that you were with Talon."

Rorschach didn't respond, he clearly didn't like being talked down to by a teenager, let alone one he believed he could snap in two. The others seemed rather impressed with his reasoning, and the agents who knew him were shocked at how well behaved he was.

"You said your name was 'Mad Dog'?" Sanjay now addressed Mad Dawg. "How did you get that name?"

"Well, to make a long story short, it was a name given to me by someone I worked with. Maybe it was nickname or maybe they were serious, regardless, it stuck." Mad Dawg answered.

"Who exactly was this person you knew?"

"Not person, a Omnic friend of mine, closet thing to a father I had for some time." Mad Dawg smiled softly, no malicious insanity in his eyes. "But I'd rather not bore you with the stories of my past, as I know there are more important things for you all to discuss."

"Who is this guy and what has he done with Cerda?" Sombra whispered to Reaper.

"I know. We should ask him to stay." Reaper replied.

"Forgive me doctor, but I cannot imagine how this… boy could possibly be the thing you speak of." Rorschach spoke again, his tone still angered and generally bitter. "You claim he can heal, that he can turn into a monster, yet it seems like he hasn't eaten in several weeks."

"I have a fast as hell metabolism." Mad Dawg cut in, his patience seeming to be waring. "It kinda happens when you have a four-hundred-pound beast living in you. Also, as for the healing thing."

Before anyone could stop him, Mad Dawg ripped his shirt off and pulled a large butterfly knife out from behind him. He then drove the blade into just above his stomach and sliced upwards, a geyser of blood splashing the table followed by a few shocked yells as Mad Dawg's knees gave out from shock and he fell to the ground, the knife clanging next to him. Doomfist seemed intrigued, Moira seemed disappointed, and the others were taken aback. After about eight seconds, they heard a groan and Mad Dawg's hand suddenly grabbed the table's edge. Pulling himself up, everyone watched in amazement as the large, vertical wound slowly closed itself, leaving a faint hint of a scar, which blended into the dozens of others just like it.

"Ow. Think I hit my lung there…" Mad Dawg muttered.

"How… how are you alive?!" Lachlan finally sputtered.

"Ask her." Mad Dawg said, pointing to Moira. "She's a hell of a lot smarter than I think we give her credit for."

"Right… well, thank you Omega." Moira spoke, somehow keeping her calm composure. "If there's no other questions, then-"

"This might seem strange, but would he be considered human?" Maximilen asked suddenly, leaning forward slightly.

"I… huh… I dunno." Mad Dawg shrugged before looking to Moira. "I'm pretty sure I'm not human according to you, but then… what does that make me?"

"Well, scientifically speaking, you're a mutant, a modified creature with human biological data but who also has additional engineered abilities." Moira mused.

"But he isn't human?" Sanjay asked.

"Considering the fact that he has almost endless stamina, an ability to self-repair and was made by someone in a lab, I'd say he's honestly closer to an Omnic than a human." Rorschach snorted.

"Is there an issue with that?" Maximilen asked, anger clear in his calm tone.

"Pfft! Not to me!" Mad Dawg laughed. "Omnic's are friggin' awesome. Most of the Omnic's in my life are better than most people whose shit I've had to deal with. If I'm classified as an Omnic, I'm cool with that."

"Regardless, Omega's success is the beginning of something much more. With his abilities, Talon will be able to achieve more of its goals with lower risk by using him as the middle man." Moira spoke up, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"And I presume that's why he's important?" Laurel asked dryly. "Because he can deal with the meaningless work while the adults accomplish the actual plan?"

"Sure, the adults. And you. Because, let's be real here, any one of us could do your job." Mad Dawg retorted.

"Excuse me?!" Laurel shouted, shocked by Mad Dawg's carless comment. "The work I do for Talon is undeniable! I worked for where I am! And I sure as hell didn't rely on genetic superpowers to compensate for physical weakness!"

"Yeah? At least I didn't get where I am by sleeping with every guy I saw." Mad Dawg flatly shot back.

The room went dead silent. Moira seemed mortified of what had just happened, Doomfist and Sombra both seemed amused. Sanjay, Abasheck and Lachlan seemed intruded by the newcomer's fire, and Maximilen stifled a laugh. Laurel turned snow white in shock at the accusation. The nerve of this… _child_ not only accusing her of partaking in dishonest advantages, but also discrediting her work! Sure, she was used to being berated, torn down, but she always stood tall, and she sure wasn't going to take this.

"Sure, let's listen to the woman who's never made a decent film in her life. I've seen pornos with better production values then her films." Mad Dawg added. Seeing the silence and reactions from the council, he smirked. "G'night everyone. It's been a pleasure meeting most of you."

Without waiting for dismissal, he cracked another can of Jack and Coke and left the room, chugging the alcoholic drink as the doors closed. The shock finally died down and everyone looked to one another.

"I like him." Sanjay finally smiled. "He's quite impressive Moira."

"Agreed." Maximilen nodded. "He will be quite useful to our future endeavors."

"You've done well Doctor O'Deorain." Abasheck complimented. "He's unbelievable! Putting aside the fact that he _survived_ almost a decade on his own _and_ freed Reaper, his healing factor… I've only ever seen things like it in a comic book!"

"I'm sorry, are we just ignoring what he said?!" Laurel demanded, colour having returned to her face, shock now replaced with anger.

"Yes." Sombra said coolly.

"I wasn't talking to _you._ " She scowled.

"I'll talk to him." Moira reassured the filmmaker. "Regardless, allow us to move onto…"

Mad Dawg quietly walked back into his room and flopped down on his bed. Looking up at the ceiling, he smiled, then chuckled to himself. After a few more moments, chuckles turned into full-blown, uncontrollable laughter. The image of Laurel's face now permanently burned into his mind, Mad Dawg rolled off his bed and onto the floor, continuing his hysterical laughter. He continued this way for about twenty minutes, then finally collected himself and returned to painting.

Outside the base, a figure with neon green hair climbed up a wall and snuck up behind a guard, grabbing his head and pulling it back, he slashed the man's throat with a sizable butterfly knife and slashed his throat clean open. Grabbing the walkie-talkie, he signaled to someone on another building who quickly dispatched the guard on their building. Several other figures with varying colours of hair scaled the building and met with a purple-haired woman.

"All right guys. This is it." She nodded. "Remembered why we're here, and let's do this!"

The group performed a fist-bump combo before opening a window and attaching a line to the roof they entered the building. Quietly drawing their weapons, the group fanned out, grabbing several guards and silently killing them. A few grunts could be heard as throats were slashed and brains were splattered. The group quickly slunk through the base, killing a few guards and agents here and there, before they came to a room with a large computer set up. As they entered, several agents turned around in shock.

"Hey, who are-" One began, but was silenced by a knife to the chest. The others panicked and tried to hit the alarm, but another member of the group jumped like a rabid animal and landed on the guards back, snapping his neck with his bare hands. Two of them quickly sat themselves at the terminal, and began furiously working away. Outside, several more figures were setting up metal sheets on the doors and windows and began wielding them into place.

"How long till we're clear?" The woman asked.

"Just a few minutes boss. Whoever is in charge of the crypting is damn good… But we should be good…" There was an audible _THUNK._ "Now."

"Good." The woman grinned, putting on a pair of sunglasses that then lit up blue, displaying a HUD around her. "Kill the lights."

Back in the council room, the lights all suddenly went out, leaving everyone confused. After a few moments, the emergency generator kicked in, illuminating the room in a dim red.

"Great…" Rorschach grumbled. "Now what?"

"The power must've tripped, it should be back on soon." Sombra shrugged. Hakim however, tried to use the door, only to find it wouldn't budge.

"Uhh… I think there's something more going on." He said aloud, getting everyone's attention. "The doors are locked."

Sombra shot Hakim a puzzled look and pulled up the mainframe data, scrolling through a few things her eyes widened.

"What the hell?!" She shouted, angered. "I'm locked out of the system!"

The PA crackled to life and a woman's laughter could be heard.

"Hey y'all!" A voice came over the system. "So… you don't know us, but trust me. _WE_ know _YOU._ You're all the highest, deadliest and most ruthless members of Talon! As for who we are… Well, we're adrenaline seekers. We live for danger, we thrive on it!"

"Sombra…" Doomfist said.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" The hacker exclaimed, trying to get through their trappings.

"Soooooo… here's what's gonna happen." The woman continued. "Me and the others, we're gonna find you, and then, we're gonna kill you. If any of you survive, we _might_ tell you why we're doing this, but until then…"

There was the unmistakable sound of a man's throat being cut and the woman laughed hysterically again.

"Buh-bye!"

"What the hell did the kid bring here?!" Rorschach snapped at Moira.

"What?! Why do you think Omega would've brought them here?! He didn't even know where here was! We sedated him the entire time! Even if he did have a tracking device, I would've noticed during the inspections!"

"Enough." Doomfist said calmly, the gauntlet slamming against the table. "Let's deal with these intruders, then we'll find out who sent them."

Sighing, Moira activated a small device and spoke into it.

"Omega! There are intruders in the base! We need you to-"

"Sorry. Can't help you." Mad Dawg cut her off, Moira's face turning redder by the moment.

"And _why_ would that _be._ " She scowled.

"Well, I was given express orders by my boss, who is kind of an asshole to be honest *ahem* that I was to remain in my room after meeting with the council until they had left. Seeing as they are still here, I have no choice but to remain here. I was even bribed. Also, there's something in my _brain that keeps shocking me when I try to leave."_ He scowled the last part, and Moira realized what was happening.

"Oh God…" She groaned.

"Moira? What did you do?" Hakim said slowly, hearing banging on the doors form the other side, followed by insane laughter.

"I re-installed a neural control chip, when I gave him the order to remain… it took it literally. It was designed to-"

"So, you screwed all of us. Great!" Sombra shouted.

"Allow me." Maximilen said, taking the device form Moira. "Hello? Mad Dawg, was it? This is Maximilen."

"Hey sir. I'm sorry I can't do more." Mad Dawg's tone was noticeably different.

"That's where your wrong." The Omnic replied. "You have a saw blade launcher, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you can heal from most wounds, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then this isn't an order, this is a plea for help from one Omnic to another." He continued. "Do what you can."

"Oh, c'mon Max." Sanjay groaned. "The kid's a survivor, bu there's no way-"

The negotiator was cut off by the sound of a buzz saw whirring and Mad Dawg screaming in agony. There was a sickening cutting sound, the sound of flesh and bone being cut, then the even worse squelching sound of something being _torn out._ After a few moments, Mad Dawg was heard breathing heavily, then the sound of tools clattering and falling to the ground, then nothing.

"Omega?" Moira finally asked.

Suddenly, a figure dropped down from the ceiling, clad in a black denim jacket with patches and spikes adorning it, he lunged forward at whoever was closest to him, that being Sanjay. Without warning, he was snatched out of the air by Doomfist's gauntlet and slammed face-first into the ground. Another jacketed figure suddenly jumped on his back, trying to stab at him, but driving the knife into the gauntlet. The blade snapped off and bounced away harmlessly.

"Uh-oh." The figure said, his eyes going wide.

Akande grabbed him with his human hand and threw him like a ragdoll across the table. When he came to a stop, both Reaper and Widowmaker opened fire, killing him instantly.

"We need to get out of here." Reaper remarked.

"Great idea, try the door." Sombra deadpanned.

"Reaper, go through the vents and tear down whatever's getting the doors closed, I'll deal with any intruders." Akande ordered. Reaper nodded and entered his wraith form and flew up to the ceiling.

"You know who these people are?" Widowmaker asked, looking over to Lachlan who shook his head.

"Never seen em' before." He replied.

The doors to Mad Dawg's room opened and one of the figures walked in, looking around. He saw the Jack and Coke and took a can, before seeing the teenager with a huge head wound from a saw blade lying in a pool of blood.

"Oh, snap!" He laughed. "Looks like someone beat be here!"

Cracking open the can, he took a drink then heard weakly.

"That's my whiskey…"

Before he could react, Mad Dawg shot up and batted the can out of his hand, sending it spinning into the air. He slammed the saw blade on the newcomer's right foot, slicing clean through his boot and cutting his foot in half. The man's screams echoed throughout the room as Mad Dawg grabbed the gun off of his belt and proceeded to fire mercilessly upwards, destroying all matter of organs before winding back and pistol whipping the man, catching the can, taking a long drink, and then shoving the can into his throat, the aluminum slicing into him, killing him.

"Hey, Akande?" Mad Dawg groaned, grabbing the large knives off the man's body.

"Yes?" Doomfist replied, killing the first man who attacked them, a bit surprised to hear Mad Dawg's voice.

"Permission to exterminate all non-Talon intruders with _extreme_ prejudice?" Mad Dawg asked, his tone seeming to be childishly hopeful.

"Granted." Akande replied with a smirk.

"Hang in there, boss, I'll be there to bust you out in a minute!" Mad Dawg's voice could be heard over the buzz saw device whirring again.

Stepping out into the hall, Mad Dawg saw another one of the figures with his back turned, seeming to be looking for something. Mad Dawg simply strolled up until he was a few feet behind him and whistled loudly. The man turned around and gasped, surprised, then tried to raise his weapon, but was silenced when the buzz saw was launched and went straight through his mouth, cutting his head in half.

"Kill him!" A voice shouted.

Mad Dawg dropped to the floor as a hail of bullets tore down the hallway, bouncing off the walls around him, he could feel a few bullets scrap him and at least one went into his side. The casings raining to the ground like an orchestra of metal tinks. Mad Dawg fired his blade launcher back at the attackers. There were screams and yells of pain and anger as several of the intruders were cut down. Mad Dawg breathed heavily, feeling a bit nervous for the first time in a long time. There were at least three of them, and one of him. Not only that, but they were in a hallway, so either he had to run _towards_ them or run away. Either way, he was going to be out in the open. Scanning the walls, Dawg tried to estimate where he'd have to bounce the blades off of in order to create an opening.

"Who the hell are you?!" Mad Dawg shouted, trying to stall for time.

"Call us Trinity!" A voice called back. "This goes one of two ways kid, run and die, or stay there and die!"

"How about option three?" Mad Dawg asked, suddenly standing up and firing the weapon. The serrated hard light blade launched down the hall, ricocheting about, then hitting the ground before bouncing off the ceiling. Sadly, Dawg miscalculated his shot, and merely sliced their weapons in half. Thankfully, this created a diversion long enough for Mad Dawg to rush the Trinity members and repetitively shank one of them in the leg, making it impossible to ever walk on his leg again. He felt the cold metal stab into his shoulder, slicing deep into muscle and nerve, making him cry out in pain.

"DAMN IT!" He growled, ripping the knife out and swinging it at the attacker, but with his injured arm, he was unstable. The members of Trinity ganged up on him, one grabbing Mad Dawg from under his arms, another one kicking him in the ribs. Falling to his knees, Mad Dawg was then kicked in the jaw, sending him sprawling onto his back. The group then began savagely kicking him into the ground, not giving him a chance to get up. Mad Dawg felt his anger rising, he was trying to change, but he couldn't focus enough while trying to survive and come up with an escape plan. Without warning, a woman grabbed him and threw him into a wall, then pulled out a hand gun from behind, cocked it, and aimed it at his head.

"Really thought you had more of a fight in you." The woman commented, seeming disappointed.

 _BLAM!_

Without warning, her chest exploded outwards, she garbled unintelligibly and fell to her knees, then onto her side. The others turned in shock to see Reaper appear from the darkness and didn't waste any time in blasting the other Trinity members away, they crumpled to the ground, bloody holes in their chests and one of them now missing most of his head. Reaper dropped his smoking shotguns and pulled Mad Dawg to his feet.

"Thanks." Mad Dawg sighed, taking a few deep breaths as his healing factor did its thing, slowly but surely.

"We're even now." Reaper replied firmly.

"We were even when I broke you out." Mad Dawg chuckled. "I owe you now."

"Then get to the council room and get them out." Reaper ordered. "Doomfist can take care of these death seekers, but someone needs to get the others out of here."

"Then why are you helping me?! Shouldn't you be trying to open the door?!" Mad Dawg replied, confused.

"I'm going to turn on the power and find their leader. I need you to kill everyone who isn't Talon."

"Okay, but how am I supposed to-" Mad Dawg began.

"That thing. Bring it out. _NOW._ " Reaper demanded.

"I can't! I need to wake it up and-"

Reaper picked up Dawg's blade launcher and shoved it into his chest.

"I don't care _how_ you do it. Just kill these scraggs." Reaper ordered before storming off, shotguns firing, towards the control room.

Mad Dawg blinked, then shrugged. Maximilen needed his help, and it was time to show these assholes what happened when you messed with Talon. Mad Dawg began running, switching the fire style to 'rapid' he burst through a door and began firing like a maniac. The room was full of Trinity gang members, who were taken aback by the newcomer. Rather than fire full-sized light blades, a barrage of tiny, but no less sharp blades began flying, digging into the Trinity members. They screamed in anger and pain before opening fire. Mad Dawg flipped a table over and kicked it with all his might. The table slid across the floor, knocking a few of the gang members off their feet. Mad Dawg grabbed the table by its end and flipped it over, using it like and oversized hammer, he slammed it onto them, crushing several bones and killing a few of them.

"LIGHT HIM UP!" Someone shouted, and several flamethrowers were ignited, and in a moment of sudden extreme heat, a wall of flame shot forwards towards him.

"Oh, crap." Mad Dawg muttered, jumping back to try and avoid the flames.

Meanwhile, Akande and the others were watching the carnage on the security cameras which were still active, seeing Mad Dawg rip and tear his way through the invaders.

"I believe I was wrong Moira." Sanjay admitted. "Perhaps Mad Dawg is the weapon you claim he is."

Outside, several Talon agents were ripping the sheet metal off the door, several layers were removed, and the door itself was somewhat visible. Before they could remove that last bits, they felt something… draining. Falling to their hands and knees, writhing in agony.

"Oh no you don't." The leader smiled. "We're not letting them out just yet."

Back in the cafeteria, Mad Dawg was being pushed into a corner by the fire. He was looking for a way out, some sort of weakness in the wall of fire, but with each second that he spent looking, the fire got closer. Mad Dawg closed his eyes, planning on being burned to hell, but trying to heal from it. But he was also nervous, fire had a weird effect in his healing factor, burns too far longer to heal, if they did heal at all… Suddenly, bullets could be heard firing, impacting with metal, followed by the gas tanks exploding, taking the flamethrower wielders with them. A swarm of Talon agents busted in, assault rifles firing, mowing the Trinity gang members down. After a few more moments, Mad Dawg heard a familiar voice.

"Kace, you good?"

"Opening his eyes, he saw Taylor standing in front of him.

"Hell, I am now! Thanks for the save." He sighed in relief.

"C'mon kid." The man rolled his eyes. "You claim to have busted out of Overwatch HQ. Why were these guys such an issue?"

"Shut up Diesel." Taylor growled.

"Simple. Overwatch has restraints. They won't _open fire on a kid with flamethrowers."_ Mad Dawg scowled back. "I need a better weapon."

Taylor held her hand out, then was tossed and assault rifle, which she in turn handed to Mad Dawg, who in turn cocked it and looked down the sight.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." He grinned.

Feeling his body back to maybe seventy-nine percent. Mad Dawg left the cafeteria, and began walking down the hall. Without words or mercy, he opened fire on anyone he saw with neon hair. He fired blindly, hitting something at least, sometimes a head, sometimes a lung, but always something that would keep them down. Another member jumped him with her large knives, and Mad Dawg used the rifle as a shield. The blades went into the stock of the gun, getting stuck. Dawg then held the gun vertically and used it like a baseball bat, the two knives embedded in it adding some extra damage. Mad Dawg hit her directly in the side of the head, the knives going in deep. Taking a step back, Mad Dawg laughed as she saw the woman stumbled forward then fall to the ground, dead.

"Damn!" He laughed. "Now that's what I call an improvised weapon!"

Walking by two doors, two more of Trinity rushed him, Mad Dawg took a step back and let them run into each other. He tripped them onto the floor then jumped, proceeding to crush both their skulls at once, bloody spraying outward like a geyser.

Rounding a corner, Mad Dawg saw someone with biotic tech standing at the door way.

"Doc? How'd you get-" He began but stopped when he saw the neon blue hair. "Aw, shit. Here we go again."

Turning around, Mad Dawg frowned almost bored, as he came face-to-face with a woman wielding one of Moira's biotic prototype weapons. She flipped her hair back and grinned.

"Aw, aren't you a little young to be working for Talon honey?" She cooed mockingly.

"Aren't you a bit of a fatass to try and squeeze into those pants?" Mad Dawg replied, clearly bored with what was happening around him. The woman's smile disappeared immediately.

"Okay, I was gonna be kind and let you walk away, but now…" Charing up a purple blast she aimed the weapon at Dawg. "You can go fuck yourself!"

Mad Dawg raised a brow as the beam was fired at him, then he suddenly remembered something.

This was _MOIRA'S BIOTIC TECH._

"Oh fu-" Mad Dawg began, but dove out of the way, feeling the negative biotic powers searing his skin, the nanotech had a weird reaction on him, making it hurt, much, _much_ more.

"Okay." He growled, the right side of his face now burned. "You're dead."

Rushing the woman, who was trying to recharge the weapon, Mad Dawg slammed her into the steel sheets and repetitively punched her. Grabbing her head, he slammed her head into the wall a few times before kicking her in the leg. Going for a knife, Mad Dawg brought the blade down towards the top of her head, but ended up hitting the wall behind her. Getting Mad Dawg's hand off her face, the woman bashed Mad Dawg in the chest with the biotic weapon and began charging it once again. Pulling her pistol out she shot Mad Dawg in the leg four times, then aimed at his chest. Grabbing the gun, the two wrestled one another for control, Mad Dawg was getting weaker though, feeling blood running down his leg. Being shot hurt you know. The woman then let go of the gun, leaving Mad Dawg confused as to what was happening, and grabbed him by the leg and threw him back down the hall.

"Wait." Mad Dawg breathed heavily, looking up from the ground. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"Well… since you asked nicely…" The woman mused. "My name is Krystal. I'm the leader of Trinity. We're thrill seekers, out organization is built on the trinity of life, Adrenaline, Revolution and Anarchy. The world has too many laws, too many groups vying for power. We just want to free everyone, ignite the spark that will burn it all down, and let the world be the way it should. Every man for themselves."

"So why Talon? Why begin here?"

"Simple." Krystal shrugged. "Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like the threat of death. Besides, if we take you guys out, who could possibly stop us?"

Firing the gun Krystal had forgotten about, Mad Dawg tried to hit the woman, only for him to miss and hit the wall next to her.

By now, everyone inside the council room could hear Krystal talking, and were listening intently, slightly angered at her poor reasoning. Mad Dawg tried to fire again, but the gun clicked, the mag being empty. Krystal kept charging the beam for a few seconds and aimed it at Mad Dawg, waiting for it to finish charging. Firing a small burst, Mad Dawg felt like his intestines burst into flames. Crying in pain, his breathing was sporadic, his heart rate was accelerated to a point where it hurt. He closed his eyes as another blast came.

"Hell, why am I even trying to explain myself to you?! Just die!" Krystal shouted, firing blast after blast at Mad Dawg, knocking him further and further back, a long trail of blood painting the floor.

"We need to help him!" Sombra exclaimed, panic in her tone.

"It isn't that easy Somb." Hakim remarked. "If they've gotten their hands on the biotic guns I was designing, we're screwed. If they can damage Mad Dawg even _with_ his healing factor, they'd tear us all to shreds in milliseconds!"

"Hold on, those things hurt that kid?" Abasheck said, taken aback. "Can't he heal or…"

"Well, the idea behind them was to make a weapon that essentially drains the life out of someone. I think with Mad Dawg's constant cell regeneration, him being hit with them amplifies the power of it due to the unstable nature of both the biotics and his genetics." Hakim reasoned. "But that's just a theory."

Mad Dawg slowly began to pick himself up, only to be grabbed by two more members of Krystal's gang.

"It's… kinda… hilarious…" He breathed out finally. "You claim to be… anar…chists… yet… you have… a leader…" He began laughing, feeling his re-broken bones poking into his damaged organs. It hurt, but damn it, he was gonna laugh. Krystal frowned, and then fire done last blast. It went clean through Mad Dawg's chest, blood gushing out as bone chunks and muscle bits splattered to the ground. The Trinity members let him fall to the ground, believing him to be dead. The room was getting darker, Mad Dawg slowly closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ms. O'Deorain… I tried to be… strong…" He wheezed. Then shut his eyes.

"Well, that was harder than expected." Krystal muttered, annoyed. "C'mon, let's kill these pricks then get out of here."

Turning their attention to the door, the lights flickered once again, the power having been restored thanks to Reaper.

One of the gang members turned around, and his face went snow white.

"Uh… K..kr..Krystal?" He stammered. "That kid… uh… he… I… He's gone…"

"WHAT!?" Krystal shouted, whirling around in shock, to her horror, there was a large pool of blood and chunks, but no body. The lights flickered a few more times, then went out for about five seconds. When they came back on, Mad Dawg was standing in front of them. His eyes were blazing orange, and his heart was partially hanging in into the hole in his chest, and had turned a dark black, but was still beating.

Slamming his fists onto the ground, he groaned in pain as his bones began shifting. Feeling his skull re-forming, Mad Dawg snarled animalisticly desperate to kill this thing, Krystal tried to fire the weapon, but the charge was out.

Inside the council room, the sounds of terrified and pained screams could be heard amidst ripping and tearing, as well as an animalistic roar.

"Moira. What the _**hell**_ is that thing!?" Lachlan demanded, fear overtaking him.

Moira was left speechless, only having heard Mad Dawg speak of his ability. She had desperately wanted it to be true… and now it seemed like it was.

There was a tremendous _**THUD**_ and a pained woman's yell as something slammed against the door. After a few moments, the noise repeated itself, and the doors seemed to be breaking.

"Uh. Everyone should move. _NOW_." Sombra said, grabbing Laurel and pulling her away as everyone else ran out of what they believed would be the debris zone. With one last hit, the doors were smashed off their hinges as Krystal flew onto the room and smacked into a chair before falling onto the table, the biotic weapon sliding away somewhat. From the dust that had risen up, Mad Dawg, or rather, what Mad Dawg had _become_ walked in. Now having transformed into a quadrupedal form, every breath emitting a low growl, his talon-like claws scraping the floor. Everyone present, even Doomfist, was shocked by what they were seeing. With one jump, the creature launched himself onto the table, standing over Krystal, growling with rage, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. The gray fur he was now covered in glistened slightly in the dim lighting, but above all. His hellfire-orange eyes seemed to pierce the darkness.

"Who. Sent. You?" He said in three short bursts, seeming to struggle to make words.

"No one." Krystal spat defiantly, trying not to seem calm despite her whole-body trembling. Mad Dawg raised one large hand in response.

"DON'T. LIE." His voice sent chills down almost everyone's spines. Even Maximilen, an Omnic, had to admit there was something unnerving about his voice.

"Omega?" He finally said. Making the creature look up at him, first with a angered scowl, then an almost puzzled look. Krystal scooted away and grabbed the biotic gun, she cocked it, and fired, aiming for the Omnic casino owner.

"MAX!" Abasheck shouted.

Before anyone could react, and faster than anyone thought possible, Mad Dawg lunged forward, head-butting Maximilen out of the blasts' way, and tanking the entire blast across the left side of his face.

"CERDA!" Sombra screamed in terror over the electro-pulsing of the weapon and Mad Dawg's agonized cry. Without a second thought, Sombra hacked the weapon, causing it to overheat and explode, taking Krystal's right hand, making the adrenaline anarchist scream in pain. Mad Dawg was clawing at his face, trying to get the biotic remains off of it, and only now did Krystal seem to realize not only what she had done, but where she was. When Mad Dawg's head snapped up, smoke wafting off the burned flesh and fur, she knew one thing.

She wasn't walking away from this.

"Please…" She whimpered, clearly terrified.

"Omega." Doomfist spoke up, making the beast turn in anger and snarl at the Talon leader, who simply nodded.

Roaring one last time, Mad Dawg pounced onto the woman who was trying to crawl away and began tearing at her stomach. His claws ripped her apart like hot knives through butter. Intestines flew and blood coated the room (and a few council members) as Krystal screamed in inhuman pain. Mad Dawg kept ripping and tearing until he suddenly bit onto her _spine_ and began shaking her about like a rope. The sound of organs and flesh shifting in unnatural ways was undeniable, and finally Krystal split in two. Mad Dawg wasn't finished though, as he raised both fists into the air and slammed them down on her head, making it explode like a watermelon. After a few moments of tense silence, Mad Dawg roared into the sky, a mixture of pain, anger and victory. He stood in his hind legs, breathing aggressively.

"Do you have a plan to control him now Doctor?" Abasheck asked. "Because if you do-"

He was cut off by a loud snarl, and Mad Dawg slowly approaching him, as if trying to determine if he was a friend, or another target. Abasheck seemed to be backed into a wall at this point, and was noticeably sweating nervously. A few of the council reached for weapons until a voice called out.

"Omega!"

Mad Dawg stopped and turned around, facing Moira now, who had her hand extended.

"Enough." She said, slashing her hand through the air, trying to emphasize her point. Mad Dawg however, began walking towards her, slowly. However, there wasn't a viciousness in his body language, in fact, he seemed almost like a trained pet. As he got closer, Moira repeated herself "Omega. That's eno-"

The geneticist was taken aback when Mad Dawg rubbed his head against her hand before sitting down. Moira thought something over then reached forward and began stroking the fur on his neck.

"Moira, what are you doing?" Widowmaker asked, having remained silent most of the break-in.

"Trying to establish a bond." The scientist replied. "I don't know how much control Omeg-er, Mad Dawg has while in this form. If it is a separate mind altogether, establishing a bond would allow him to know we are not the ones he should attack."

"I'm pretty sure a few shotgun shells would do the same thing." Rorschach muttered. In response, Mad Dawg jumped up, whirling around, and roared angrily at the man, making him take a few steps back.

"No." Moira said firmly, and Mad Dawg growled again but seemed to settle down. After a little bit of deep breathing, they began to notice just how badly he was wounded. Before Moira could activate her healing stream, there was a sickening _CRACK!_ And the large beast seemed to wince, then twist about as he slowly changed back into Mad Dawg. Now the wounds were even more notable, as there was still a large hole in his chest, he was covered in bullet wounds, cuts, scrapes, and the biotic burns were very noticeable as well. Most shocking however, was that half of his left face was… missing for lack of a better term, including part of his eye. From the other eye, it was clear tears were running down his face, the pain clearly being unbearable.

"Miss O'Deorain?" He wheezed, there was no emotion in his voice, he seemed like a child, terrified and alone.

"Yes Om-Mad Dawg?" Moira replied calmly, trying to seem reassuring. "I'm here."

"I can't see half the room…" He suddenly fell to one knee, yelling in pain. "Shit… the others… Lachlan, Abasheck, Mr. Maximilen… are they alive?"

"Yes." Moira nodded. "They're fine."

"Cool." Mad Dawg nodded, seeming to be losing consciousness. "Imma sleep for a bit… I'm sorry I wasn't stron-"

Maybe the council said something, maybe they didn't. But Mad Dawg didn't hear them, all he heard was the impact of his head hitting the table, then the world went back again…

 _Four Days Later…_

"AAAGGHH!" Mad Dawg suddenly screamed, bolting upright in a hospital bed. The heart rate monitor went off the chart, beeping frantically. Mad Dawg took repetitive deep breaths trying to calm himself as he looked around, quickly recognizing Moira's lab. So, he wasn't dead… Okay. That was one question answered.

"Cerda!" An overjoyed voice exclaimed as Sombra threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I thought we lost you!"

"Sombra?" Mad Dawg asked, looking around. "Where are you?"

Pulling a bandage off his face, he was shocked when he still couldn't see out of his left eye. Sombra moved to the right and smiled sadly at him.

"Are you okay hon?" She asked immediately. "Do you need water? Light?"

"Beer." Mad Dawg sighed. "That'd be friggin' great."

"No. You can't have alcohol just yet." Moira suddenly said, walking into view. "You scared us there, I thought we lost you."

"Heh. I don't die easy." Mad Dawg smirked. "But can you tell me why I can't see out of my left eye?"

Moira frowned, then held up a mirror, revealing Mad Dawg _didn't have_ a left eye.

"Oh. That's why."

"I'm amazed honestly." The scientist shook her head. "Both the healing wave and your natural regeneration did nothing to repair your eye. We ended up removing it because it was so badly damaged." When she saw the look of disbelief, she quickly added: "Don't worry. We are in the process of getting you another."

"Neat." Was all Mad Dawg said lying back and lifting up the blanket. "Holy hell. That's a lotta damage. I don't think flex tape is gonna fix this…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry kid. I had no idea the biotic weapons did so much damage to you…" Hakim admitted setting his coffee down and looking under the blanket with Mad Dawg.

"Is my junk still there?" Mad Dawg asked.

"Yeah."

"Then all's good."

"Great."

"That was most impressive Dawg." Doomfist said as he entered the room.

"I take it this room is bigger than I'm seeing…" Mad Dawg muttered before turning his head and seeing most of the council (minus Laurel and Rorschach) were there as well. "Oh. Well, that explains that."

"Yeah, well. You said to kill everyone…" Mad Dawg muttered propping himself up.

"And you took out nearly fifty armed guards."

"Was that not all of them? Get me a wheel chair, a two machine guns and a chain gun, I'll finish this crap."

"Reaper and the others dealt with the stragglers, but I am interested as to what you'd do with those items." Sanjay commented thoughtfully.

"Simple, machine guns on the front, chain gun of the back. Chain gun pushes me and kills anyone behind me, machine guns kill all in front." Mad Dawg flopped back on the bed groaning. "I am in so much pain… I can some heroin or something?"

"Yeah, hold on." Hakim nodded before walking away. This remark surprised everyone, even Mad Dawg who pulled himself up and looked to where the mechanic left.

"Yo, for real?" He asked.

"Alright, that's enough dear." Moira said, gently pushing Mad Dawg back down as she attached an IV to his arm. "Like it or not, and healing factor or not, you can't just walk this off. "You need rest for at least a week."

"Okay." Mad Dawg said, not even arguing and simply dropping to sleep like a rock.

"Oh. That was easy." Sombra shrugged.

"I believe now it's best we let him rest. I need to check some things, but I'll be out in about an hour." Moira said, looking to the others. Who all nodded and left the room, except Sombra. "Sombra…"

"Hey, let me stay, okay?" The hacker asked quietly. "I'm not gonna hack anything, I wanna make sure he's okay."

"We know he's alive, isn't that…" Moira began but trailed off when she figured Sombra wasn't going to budge and sighed, rubbing her face slightly. "Fine." She rolled her eyes. "But when I tell you to move, you do as I say. Understand?"

"Yeah." Sombra nodded with a faint smile.

As Moira set to making sure Mad Dawg was on the road to recovery, some of the council was walking down the hall where agents were still cleaning blood and bullets up.

"We might need a new place to meet." Lachlan muttered. "How did they even find us?"

"It doesn't matter _how_ they did. What matters is they _did."_ Abasheck stated.

"Actually, it does matter how they found us." Doomfist countered. "Most likely someone on the inside gave them the information to our location, let alone when we would be meeting."

"You think it was the kid?" Sanjay asked, clearly not believing it himself.

"Do you?"

"No." He shook his head. "And if he did, why turn on them? Was this all some big stunt to gain our trust? It just dosen't make sense… why kill so many gang members? Hell, _how_ did he get so many to agree to this if he was working with them?"

"Mad Dawg had nothing to do with the invasion. Period." Maximilen stated as if the matter was settled beyond a doubt. "Moira created him, we saw how that beast reacted to her orders, I find it very hard to believe he would turn on her so easily, especially after just meeting with her again.

"Agreed."

"If it's alright with the rest of you, I may have use for him, when he's recovered more thoroughly."

"You'll have to talk with Moira, but I have no issue with it." Akande replied coolly.

Maximilen nodded as they continued walking in silence, things were going to get interesting with this newcomer around…


	8. Like A Record Baby

The sound of classical jazz played throughout the halls, only overshadowed by slots whirring and dice rolling. As the King has once put it, 'A fortune win and lost on every deal', and that was no less true here. While Maximillian didn't rig his slot machines or roulette wheels, it was undeniable that in order to win, you needed money, skill and luck. Well, most of the casino patrons had money, some had skill, and very, very few had luck. The Omnic had considered rigging the machines once, but after seeing how much he made simply off of people who believed they were about to strike it big, he felt like he didn't need to. It was a usual night, not overly crowded, but not barren either. That was fine with Max, as the noise of the casino would cover up Mad Dawg's work several levels down underground.

Meanwhile, Mad Dawg lifted up another heavy rock and tossed it onto the pile he had made in a corner, expanding the 'Reaper Railroad' as he had begun calling it inch by inch.

"Oh, I've been workin' in the Railroad, you can kiss my-" he continued singing as he groaned, tossing another rock out of the way. When Max had asked him if he wanted to help at his casino, Mad Dawg had said yes before he even knew what he was going to be doing. Not that it would've changed if he did know, he was going stir crazy being trapped in the medical bed for as long as he had been. Sure, he was there so Moira could make sure everything else (not including his eye) was okay, but he was fine after a day! But no... he had to stay until Moira said he could leave. So naturally, he left the moment she turned her back to him, while Mad Dawg was excited to work in a casino, he was somewhat disappointed when he was given his assignment, but got down to work nonetheless. Frustratingly, his eye hadn't grown back yet, and while Moira was working hard to try and understand why his eye seemed to be struggling to heal, he currently had a bloody medical bandage wrapped around his head, covering his empty socket. Before you ask, yes, he did have to change it more than once until his eye stopped bleeding. He sat down on a stool and sighed deeply, wiping some sweat away from his forehead. He had considered using his beast form to clear this rubble faster, but also knew that it probably would lead to a big issue if he ended up going upstairs in his beast form to try and get a snack. He sighed and cracked open another water bottle and downed it. His head rested against the wall, and even though he was underground, he could still hear the casino goers above.

Back above, Maximilen passed by a roulette wheel and noticed Hakim was leaning on the side of the table, watching the game. A mixture of amusement and deep thought on the man's face.

"Any luck tonight?" The Omnic asked, the man looked over and shook his head.

"Nah, I tried a few numbers, but nothing worked. And I'm not rich like you Max, I still need to keep some money for coffee."

"Ah, your caffeine vice." The Omnic nodded in response. "To some, tobacco, to some, alcohol, to others, this very building is an endless vice. But to you… it's coffee."

"Hey, I'm pretty sure Mad Dawg's vice is cocaine and vodka." Hakim shrugged in response. "I mean, how eels could he pull of what he does? Anyhow, it could be worse."

"Yes, I can't quite put down what his vice is." The Omnic replied in agreement. "Although, I could be talked into believing that his addiction is adrenaline, or rather, adrenaline rushes."

"Speaking of Mad Dawg, what's he up to right now?"

Back below, Mad Dawg's phone buzzed, signaling a message. Picking it up, he was expecting Sombra or Maximilien to be contacting him, but it wasn't either of them, it was Steve. Steve was another employee here at the casino who worked at the bar.

 _Hey kid, we got a private room that ordered a bunch of bottles, can u take em?_ The message read.

 _NP._ Mad Dawg replied. He then looked down at his tattered and sweat-stained shirt and sighed, shaking his head somewhat.

"Whatever…" He muttered. "In and out, no big deal."

Slipping up a hidden passageway that came out behind an electrical box, Mad Dawg looked up at the sunset with his remaining eye and let a smile form on his face. Sure, there was a lot of things going on right now, and he didn't know where his 'partnership' with Talon was going, but he was honestly okay with that. A little bit of danger never killed anyone.

Aside from Jeff, Lebowski, K5p-Lan, Jade, Logan, those random security guards, and the other people Mad Dawg may or may not (but totally did) have killed. Slipping in through a back door Mad Dawg looked around, unsure of where to go, until he saw Steve waving to him.

"Down here Alex!" He called. Mad Dawg walked over and looked at a wooden crate full of bottles. Without another word, Mad Dawg picked it up and set off, as he walked across the back of the Casino, he looked out over the people and Omnics laughing and gambling, without a care in the world. Mad Dawg's eyes (or eye) narrowed slightly. So many of the people he looked out at… what did they do to earn their riches? Most of them either were born into it, or simply took it. They didn't suffer for it, they didn't work for it… That's why he wanted to remain with Talon for the time being, what they had, they worked for. Through loss and strife, they built what they had, they didn't wait for someone to give it to them. Mad Dawg groaned, his head hurting somewhat, and he took a quick drink from his flask to deal with it. This happened when he tried to get deep or philosophical…

" _What was I doing again?"_ Mad Dawg thought. Having forgot why he was holding a case of liquor. _"Oh, right."_ As he opened the door, he could hear laughter and upbeat music. He walked towards where a group of women were sitting on some lounge couches all laughing at what seemed to have been a funny joke.

"Hello nurse!" Mad Dawg muttered to himself with a smile. As he walked towards them, they all seemed to notice the scarred, practically shirtless figure, and they were all interested immediately.

"Ooh, who called for room service?" One said teasingly, looking Mad Dawg up and down as he set the box down.

"There's your liquor, have fun." He said simply, trying to seem 'reserved', as best he could. It seemed to be enough, and that's what mattered.

"Aww, don't be like that!" Another chided, slightly inebriated. "What's a big strong man like you got to do that's so important you couldn't stay and celebrate our girl's birthday?"

On the outside, Mad Dawg seemed calm and collected, as if trying to think of his duties and the actual job given to him by Talon. On the inside, fireworks were exploding and the can-can was being played in celebration at their invitation.

"Nothing really." He shrugged. "But I doubt you'd want me to stay, I'd just get in your way-"

Mad Dawg smiled as he was cut off by a protest of slightly drunken 'Boos' from all the women present. If he had to guess, they were anywhere from nineteen to twenty-nine It was hard to tell, either way, Mad Dawg decided to do the responsible thing and-

Wait, did we say responsible? No. We meant to say the fun thing. Mad Dawg decided to shirk his responsibilities and party.

"Well, first things first why don't we find out which one of you young starlets is turning another year younger?" Mad Dawg suddenly declared, making the women cheer and all point to one of the women with a glass in her hand. She had somewhat dark skin, but a very fair complexion. She had black hair with some blue streaks along the back and wore an intentionally faded-colored-I-don't-know-you-decide-for-yourself-dress.

"That would be Scarlet!" One of the women said with a smile. To their shock, Mad Dawg suddenly jumped up in the table where the empty bottles lay and spun around in a showman-style dance.

"Well, Happy birthday to you Miss Scarlet!" He declared, posing as if he had finished a huge dance routine. "May your beauty continue to make even the angels who watch over us jealous!"

Scarlet blushed deeply, smiling down into her drink. She pushed some hair away from her face, as it had been covering one of her eyes and she looked up at Mad Dawg, and her smile quickly turned to shock when she saw the bloody bandage wrapped around his face.

"Ohmygoshwhathappenedtoyou!?" She exclaimed in shock, jumping up and grabbing Mad Dawg's hand, the other girls surprised by her sudden reaction, but then equally if not more shocked when they too saw what she was gawking it.

" _Think of something fast Dawg…"_ Mad dawg mentally cursed, looking to the reader for help. When it didn't come, Mad Dawg mentally flipped the reader off before realizing that the reader couldn't actually give him advice, so he flipped off the creators of the internet for not giving users for virtual reality abilities, all the while trying to think of an excuse.

"I was out in the woods, planting trees." Mad Dawg began, trying to think of a story that would seem plausible. "For charity, y'know? So I'm out there with these kids form poverty-stricken homes and-"

"Wait, why were you with kids out in the woods?" One of the women suddenly cut in, raising a very valid question.

"It was… a summer camp." Mad Dawg lied.

"Oh, okay." The woman nodded, seeming to believe him.

"Anyhow, so we're at the camp, and we were gonna spend the day planting trees and learning about nature and stuff. So, everything is awesome, the kids are having fun, they're making friendships and learning stuff, and then a grizzle bear just comes out of no-where!" Several of the women gasped in horror at that, so Mad Dawg began to turn about as he continued with his story. "And it lunges at one of the kids, so I jumped in-between them, and tried to hit the bear on the nose, because apparently they hate that and run away when it happens."

"What happened?" Scarlet asked.

"Well, they were half right." Mad Dawg sighed. "Bears _hate_ when you hit them on the nose, and it just served to piss the bear off even more. So, I'm here with a group of kids who probably look like the bear equivalent of chicken nuggets right now, armed with only a shovel and the drive to protect these children, so I hit the bear as hard as I could in the gut, trying to fight it off, but now it seems to have a vendetta, like something out of a bad shark movie, and it lunges forward again. They've healed by now, but it did some damage to my arm." Mad Dawg continued, pointing to several scars he got form underground fighting. "And I decided scaring him away wasn't going to happen, I needed to kill it, otherwise these kids were gonna die."

By now, all the women were on the edge of their seats, completely drawn in to Mad Dawg's story, all believing it with one hundred percent belief, that also may have had to do with the alcohol, but whatever.

"So, I take my shovel, and I hit the bear right under its chin, trying to cut off his air supply, and the bar stands on his hind legs, claws out, teeth covered in drool and blood, ready to rip me and these kids to pieces. I don't know why I thought of this, but I drove my shovel right into the bear's chest, and somehow, it worked. But before that beast went down, he took one swing at me, and he got my eye." Mad Dawg concluded pulling the bandage up, revealing the large scar across his eye and somewhat down his face that was left form Hakim's biotic weapon. The women all gasped in shock and amazement at what they saw. "But enough about me, it your birthday! Let's celebrate!" He declared, holding a bottle up in the air, making the women cheer.

One of the women got up and pulled Mad Dawg down and whispered something into his ear, Mad Dawg's eyes widening at the request.

"I.. uh…" He stammered, genuinely taken aback. "I don't know if I should…"

"Please? It's for her birthday, and she just got out of a rather… unhappy relationship." The woman added. Mad Dawg thought it over, then nodded.

Back down below, Moira had arrived at the casino, and she was less than amused, even less so than usual. She had known that Mad Dawg was going to assist Maximilen at his casino, just once he was finished healing. And he hadn't yet. But he had ran off and what now doing… something. It didn't take her long to find the Omnic boss of the place, and Max knew almost immediately something was wrong by the look on her face.

"What's wrong now Moira?" He asked, his tone a little bit tired, little bit sarcastic.

"Where's Omega?" Moira said flatly. "He hasn't finished healing yet, I don't want him getting hurt more than he already has." Max went silent, as if he was blinking before he finally responded.

"I was under the impression that he was better." The Omnic replied.

"And who told you that?" Moira asked.

"Mad-" Max began, but suddenly stopped. "Oh."

Moira sighed, rubbing her face slightly before addressing the casino owner again.

"Where is he?"

About two minutes later, the two had been told by Steve that Mad Dawg had been making a delivery upstairs, and hadn't returned yet, so the two made their way upstairs, but were stopped by the security guard about fifteen feet from the door.

"Sir, I don't think you want to go in there." The security guard said with respect, but also with sincerity in his voice.

"Baka, Lady O'Deorain here needs to speak with Alex about important matters, I'm sure whatever it is isn't an issue." Max replied calmly. Baka seemed to fidget about for a moment, then sighed.

"You're the boss, just don't say I didn't warn you." Was all the large Omnic said as the two made their way down the hall and to the door, from which music could be heard from the other side, as well as laughter and cheering. Moira rolled her eyes, not sure what to expect.

Well, whatever they had expected, they couldn't have been further off form the truth. Standing on the table, now shirtless was Mad Dawg, dancing under a rotating light that frequently changed colors.

"You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby right round, round round." Mad Dawg was singing loudly as he danced for the women, all of whom were clearly drunk. Mad Dawg was swaying and thrusting somewhat to the music, before jumping and spinning in place, he then stepped off the table and took one of the women by the hand and spun her in her place. Moira's eyes widened beyond belief and she felt like she had been punched repeatedly in the gut. Max however, just let out a light chuckle.

"Perhaps… we should come back at a later time." The Omnic remarked, quietly closing the door. "Come, I think you could use a drink."


	9. Anything You Can Do

Mad Dawg was lying in his room, staring up at the ceiling, laughing slightly at the two angel-winged sloths fluttering about. One of them flew by, a trail of chocolate chips following behind it as it dove downwards towards Dawg, before gliding across the room, pulling off a corkscrew as it flew back into the air. The other sloth proceeded to vomit out a rainbow which defied gravity and began spinning about, creating a sort of rainbow-nado. Mad Dawg lawled over to one side and grabbed a slice of pizza, slowly eating it, he didn't notice his door opened, until he heard someone speak.

"Dawg? What the hell are you doing?"

Dawg simply giggled in response, earning an annoyed groan. Suddenly, Mad Dawg found himself being pulled up by a clawed-gloved hand and came face-to-mask with Reaper.

"Seriously?" Reaper muttered, clearly annoyed. "Your high? Now?"

"Aw, c'mon Widow, lighten up." Mad Dawg drawled. "You're so stressed all the time, take a load off."

Reaper slapped Mad Dawg in response, trying to snap Mad Dawg back to consciousness, or at least to a point where he could talk with him and not get laughter as a response. Mad Dawg's head tilted back, and another laugh was all he got. Reaper said something but wasn't sure if Mad Dawg heard it or not. Deciding this wasn't his issue, Reaper dropped Mad Dawg onto his bed and walked away.

"Doomfist's looking for you." He said as he went.

"Aww… crap." Mad Dawg muttered, the sloths suddenly turning to skeletons as a sign of bad things to come. Pulling himself up, Mad Dawg found himself unbalanced for a moment but managed to grab the door frame before he fell over. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to make things more focused, but the whole world seemed to be tilting back and forth. As he made his way down the hall, he heard something.

 _Hey kid._

"What?" Mad Dawg muttered stopping and turning about, confused as to where the voice came from.

 _You can't see me. I'm in your head._

"Who are you?" Mad Dawg asked aloud.

 _I don't have a name._

"Your Steve then."

 _No. That is an incredibly stupid name._

"Oof. A big 'F' in chat to all my 'Steve' pals…" Mad Dawg muttered.

 _Look, don't think too much about me, I'm just here for the ride._

"Cool."

Still stumbling down the hallway, Mad Dawg cracked a can of Jack-Cola and shotgunned it, wiping the remains form his mouth as he came to the door.

 _Hold on kid._

"Ugh… What?" Mad Dawg groaned annoyed.

 _Eyes._

"Oh. Crap. Right." Mad Dawg muttered, looking around for his sunglasses, he patted his shorts and shirt looking for them. "Where are they?"

… _they're on your forehead._

Mad Dawg remained silent, before reaching up and slowly pulling his Vortex shades down, the orange tinted shades now concealing his red eyes.

"…my bad."

Entering the room, Mad Dawg leaned against the wall and looked around, seeing Sombra typing away on her screen, Hakim keeping to himself with a cup of coffee, Widowmaker seeming distant as always, with a face that seemed to say 'I don't want to be here right now'. Doomfist, who seemed to be waiting for someone, and Lachlan who turned to Mad Dawg as he entered.

"Kid." He nodded.

"Mr. DeNiro." Mad Dawg replied with a respective nod, earning a slight chuckle from the man.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's begin." Doomfist began. Before he could stop himself, Mad Dawg spoke up.

"Uh, why are we here?" He asked, hoping no-one would pick up on his stoned tone. Thankfully, it seemed like everyone just assumed he was still waking up.

"Did Reaper not tell you?" Doomfist asked quizzically.

"…No…" Mad Dawg replied, his eyes darting around, paranoia gripping his spine.

"Regardless, Lachlan's contacts believe they've found the one responsible for giving 'Trinity' the location of where we were as well as the date of our meeting."

"Okay." Dawg nodded. "Cool."

Doomfist blinked, a bit surprised at how oddly calm Mad Dawg seemed, but he decided not to question it, reasoning he was probably just attentively listening. He nodded to Sombra, and the hacker flicked the screen, and an image of a woman appeared on the large monitor. She was dark-skinned with a noticeable amount of eyeshadow, her hair seemed to have a bit of a 'punk' aesthetic that wasn't too obnoxious, but also got the point across. She seemed almost familiar, but Mad Dawg couldn't quite place the face. Heck, he probably didn't know her, but had seen someone like her, Jade… Yeah! Jade! She looked familiar to her.

"According to the taps we got, her name's Lilith Katlego. She was a free-lance mercenary and bounty hunter." Lachlan explained as her picture moved and several other images appeared, as well as a list of facts. "For the longest while, she went where the money was; Junkers, Deadlock Gang, Shimadas-"

"And Trinity." Mad Dawg spoke up. Lachlan paused, then nodded.

"We believe so."

"Okay, so like… why don't we just contact her and tell her we've got a job for her? I mean, if we do that, then she'll come to us man…" Mad Dawg mused, walking forward and looking up at the screen reading in all the facts he could. A few facts stood out to him; apparently, she was an expert getaway driver and bombmaker, she had a kill count of at least one-hundred-and-sixty-nine found bodies, with an assumed eighty-to-one-hundred unaccounted for. Mad Dawg stopped, a question coming to his baked mind.

"Whoa Doom Dude." Mad Dawg said turning around, his head rolling to one side as he turned. "Uh, like… how the hell hasn't she been killed? Or recruited yet? If she's got a kill count of one sixty-nine *couhghnicecough* how come Overreefer hasn't tried to bring her in? And like… How come she's not in the news?"

"It isn't that easy pup." Lachlan said, and Mad Dawg turned to the Talon member with a face that read 'da fudge did you just call me?'. "She's a tactical genius, possibly even ex-Overwatch. She hasn't been on the news because she tends to keep to the shadows. That, or there's no one left to report anything."

"We also believe she has a personal army." Hakim added, setting his coffee down and tossing a folder onto a table, several sheets sliding out and falling off the table. "Oh… Thought that would go better…"

Mad Dawg picked up one of the sheets, looking at the image printed on it of what looked like two spears making an 'X' with a lion's head in the middle.

"They call themselves the Misfit Pride." Lachlan continued. "From what we know, it's made up of mercenaries and free-lancers who didn't want to throw in with us or any other group."

"Any reason for that?" Mad Dawg asked, still swaying back and forth somewhat. Sombra now seemed to be picking up on his intoxication.

"We're not sure." Lachlan shook his head. "That's not why we're here though."

"Widowmaker has an assignment coming up." Doomfist spoke up now. "We also believe that Lilith will be there for unknown reason-."

"So?"

Doomfist paused, surprised by Mad Dawg's response, beginning to think there was something wrong with him.

"We want you to go with Widowmaker, if you see Lilith, we want you to follow her and gather any intel you can."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sombra suddenly asked, this clearly being news to her. "Mad Dawg's good for a lot of things, but he's tends to use a sledgehammer when others use a scalpel."

"Actually, that's part of why we're sending him." Lachlan replied. "At best, the kid follows her, gets some information, gets out. Alternatively, he does… well, whatever, and causes a scene, taking authorities away from where Widow will be."

"I'm not saying your plan is bad Mr. DeNiro, but like, what about Widow?" Mad Dawg asked. "Who's gonna watch her back?" He paused then raised his hands. "I mean… I mean I ain't trying to say she can't do the job, but if she's up there shooting someone, who's gonna make sure she dosen't get jumped?"

"Reaper will." Lachlan replied simply.

"Ah, that's smart." Mad Dawg nodded. "Alright, where we goin'?"

"Ilios."

"Yo, for real?!" Mad Dawg perked up at that. "Man, I've been meaning to cross that off my bucket list for a while now!"

Sombra chuckled at Mad Dawg's excitement, even years later, he still had some of his childish qualities she found adorable.

"You'll be taking a plane out to Ilios, Reaper and Widowmaker will arrive in a few days' time. We want you to try and get a lay of the land." Doomfist continued. "While we could use drones or other such devices, we believe your… social skills may help you find places to either hide or help make an escape." Doomfist instructed. "You'll check into the Santorini hotel, you'll receive further instructions there."

"A'right." Mad Dawg nodded, a thought occurred to him, and the paranoia from his joint kicked in, making him twitch slightly. "Hang on, I uh, I got a question."

"Which is?" Doomfist asked.

"We all know what's inside me." Mad Dawg began. "That beast thing, it tends to come out when I get into a scrap. If I run into Lilith and that thing comes out, that could prove to be a real problem. Isn't my job to be the guy who can blend into a crowd? If they see me change into a furry's wet dream, that's not gonna be possible anymore."

Doomfist and Lachlan looked to one another, taking in Mad Dawg's concern, and it was a valid one at that. In fact, they hadn't fully figured out the answer to that. Thankfully, Hakim spoke up.

"Well, Moira has been developing a formula to supress those genes from activating. It isn't permeant, or tested… but it should do the job. I've built an armband for you that will immediately inject you with a small dose if the sensors pick up on a change." The scientist explained, pulling out a black band with some red accents.

"Whoa." Mad Dawg said, impressed. "That's slick." He then turned to Doomfist and asked: "Anything else? Or should I go get ready?"

"That is all. You're leaving tomorrow morning." Akande replied. "Also, you'll have no contact until you reach the hotel, so _don't do anything stupid._ "

Mad Dawg silently nodded, even while high, he knew that Akande was being screw-this-up-and-you'll-become-my-personal-punching-bag-serious.

"Alright boss." Mad Dawg nodded. Before leaving to get ready.

Flying was a new experience to Mad Dawg. Sure, he had 'flown' in a sense, but that had more to do with jumping off of buildings, driving off of a cliff, or other such stupid stunts. He also may have hidden on a plane or two, but this was the first time he was traveling in a plane. Talon had set him up in a decent airline, and the plane had left without an issue, not that Mad Dawg gave any reason for the security to suspect him. But after breaking out of Titan's Cell, Mad Dawg knew that there was going to be word of him out there, so being precautious made sense. Thankfully, he didn't show his face during that escapade, but still. Dawg looked out the window, looking down at the cloud line that the plane was flying above, enjoying the odd sight of what looked like fluffy ground.

"Attention passengers, this is your pilot speaking." A calm, soothing female voice came over the speakers. "At this time, we have turned off the seatbelt light, and passengers are free to unfasten their seatbelts. We thank you again for flying Vishkar Air."

Mad Dawg turned his chair so he was looking down the aisles, before standing up and cracking his back. He needed to go to the bathroom. NOW.

Once he was seated, Cerda looked at his phone, checking the time, he frowned when he noted that it would still be about thirteen hours until he landed. Once he finished, he walked around the small cabin he was in. There was a bed, a small table, a tv, a chair and a window. He (much to his own annoyance) refused taking the first-class flight, reasoning that to society, he was just some dude, maybe in community college, and he didn't want to seem like a 'big deal'. Sitting on his bed, Mad Dawg turned on the tv, scrolling through the movie options to try and pass the time. He paused at one, and he silently shouted: "Why?"

Regardless, he knew the movie he was going to watch, hitting play on the movie: _Snakes On A Plane_.

 _Some Time Later…_

The plane had landed and Cerda left, slinging his rucksack onto his back, he navigated through the security without issue, he found the only other thing he brought with him, his longboard waiting at the end of the luggage carousel. Dropping the board outside, he flipped on the sunglasses he had been given by Hakim, and set off down the road towards the hotel. About ten minutes later, Mad Dawg arrived at his hotel and checked in. Nothing going wrong yet, he arrived at his room and flopped down on his bed and sighed, knowing jetlag was going to _suck_. But he couldn't let that drag him down, he was here on a job. He looked around the room, finally noticing something that didn't seem to belong. A deck of cards was lying on the nightstand, at a glance, it seemed like any other deck of cards, but upon closer inspection, he recognized a familiar casino letterhead.

"Bingo." He smirked.

After walking to the vending machine for a drink (and realizing he didn't have money, so he used a small device Sombra gave him) he sat on the bed and looked at the cards. Where the numbers and suits would be, there were words and small pictures, with lines going all over the place.

"…..what?..." Mad Dawg said, completely bewildered. Finally, he tried setting them next to each other, and it dawned on him. These weren't playing cards, they were puzzle pieces! Puzzle pieces that would form a map.

"That's smart." Mad Dawg nodded, thinking it over, before setting to work trying to find the right combination and placement for the cards. After about half an hour, he took a step back from his bed and looked at the finished product. It was rather large map detailing the city, with a large blue square surrounding the town square. The other thing of note was aa few of the cards did have their numbers, forming a nine-digit number. Mad Dawg smirked and picked up the phone.

 _Meanwhile…_

"You sure sending the kid was the best idea?" Rorschach asked with a raised brow.

"What could be wrong with sending him?" Doomfist asked in response.

"The kid's unstable, volatile, anarchic." The large man replied. "How do we know he'll even do what we told him to?"

"I'm more surprised you know what half those words were." Sombra snarked from where she was working. Rorschach growled and turned to look at her.

"Keep to yer work woman! This dosen't concern you!" He barked, his only response was to be flipped off by Sombra. "Stupid girl..."

"Well, you may not trust him, but the times I've seen Mad Dawg work, he does what he needs to." Doomfist answered, ignoring the last remarks. "And this job, well, it's also a test. If he pulls through, then his loyalties lie with us for a time, if not, we'll deal with him later."

"You're putting a lot of faith into one of Moira's failed experiments, even if he does figure out the clues and do what he's told, if he gets found out, how do you know he won't cut and run or turn on us?"

"As of right now, Moira is the reason why I believe he won't turn." Doomfist explained. "She hasn't explained everything to him yet, and she can make him stronger, the two of them know that they need one another. Moira needs him to continue her work, and he needs her to grow."

Rorschach was going to say something else, when Sombra's voice got everyone's attention:

"Hi honey! How was the flight?"

"Great." Mad Dawg's voice came from the other end of the speakerphone Sombra put him on. "No issues, got in and through security just fine. Never flown on a plane before, so that was an interesting first. I'm in Ilios, checking out the view from here. It's really pretty, and it feels, well, secure."

" _Perfect."_ Sombra smirked before activating the encryption software that would make sure that this call couldn't be recorded or tapped into. After a few moments, she said: "We're good."

"We're secure? Okay." Mad Dawg said, dropping the forced childish happiness in his tone. "I'm in the hotel, I found the map, sorta."

"Good, have you assembled it?" Akande asked.

"Yup, now what?" Mad Dawg asked.

"Put the glasses on and look at it again."

Mad Dawg raised a brow in confusion, and set the phone down while he put the shades on again.

"User: Omega-725, Alias: 'Mad Dawg', recognized." A voice suddenly spoke, the sunglasses seeming to come to life, with an image of Mad Dawg appearing in front of his left eye, along with a few statistics. "Hello, I am Computer Reality Augmented Program."

The next thing Talon heard was Dawg laughing uncontrollably.

"Hey, Hakim! Your program is C.R.A.P.!" He laughed. Hakim paused, then face palmed.

"I programmed it as Computer Augmented Reality Program!" He exclaimed, annoyed.

"Please look at the augmented cards." C.R.A.P.'s voice spoke again, once Mad Dawg had gotten control of himself. Still chuckling, Mad Dawg turned and looked at the cards, and his eyes widened in amazement when a digital 3d map formed in front of him. The different colour lines now had words on them. Red was titled 'Bishop', yellow was titled 'Knight' and the green line that was going all over the place was titled 'Rook'. Mad Dawg nodded, remembering the codenames he had been given; 'Bishop' was 'Widowmaker', 'Knight' was Reaper, and he was 'Rook'.

"That's cool." Mad Dawg remarked.

"The glasses will save the route for you, in two days' time, travel along the path and keep an eye out for Lilith. You will have a line to Reaper and Widowmaker should anything go wrong. But remember, you're not there to start a war, keep to the crowds and shadows."

"Yes sir." Mad Dawg nodded.

"Destroy the cards, make sure they cannot be reassembled. Then get some rest, it two days you'll be contacted again by Reaper. He'll be in charge of the mission." Doomfist finished. "That is all."

"Got it." Mad Dawg nodded. "See ya Thanos." He said before hanging up the phone and turning back to the cards. He stared at the map for a minute, until C.R.A.P. successfully saved the map, beginning to create the digital pathway.

" _Now how am I gonna get rid of these?"_ Mad Dawg mused, looking around the room. He figured the best plan was fire, but he didn't see a lighter in the room. Knowing he couldn't do this the way he normally would, Mad Dawg packed up the cards before leaving his hotel room.

As he walked through the streets of Ilios, Mad Dawg took in the beauty of the city. Sure, he may be a Talon-bred death machine, but he could appreciate beauty. He glanced at the resturaunts he passed by, seeing people and Omnics laughing, talking, drinking, and seeming to have a lovely time. Mad Dawg smiled when he saw a woman smile towards him, replying with a curt nod, he kept walking until he found what he was looking for.

"Welcome to Olympian Cigars." A man said with a thick accent as Mad Dawg entered a store. "What can I do for ya?"

"I'm looking for a good smoke, something with punch." Mad Dawg said, looking the rows of boxes up and down. "Something that with a rich flavour, and a smooth burn."

"Ah, then my young friend, I know just what you want!" The man laughed. "You uh, you _are_ old enough for these, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course." Mad Dawg nodded, taking out his fake I.D. that made him apparently 22. "So, whatcha got?"

"They're called Kaplan Gold." The man answered, opening a box lined with large, brown cigars. "These are made with a mixture of Brazilian tobacco, rolled in genuine Columbian paper, and aged for three years."

"I'll take five." Mad Dawg said, and the man raised a brow.

"You sure son? They're not cheap…"

Mad Dawg just smirked and pulled out some cash he 'got' from an ATM. Than man's eyes widened at the sight and he looked to Mad Dawg.

"Would you like a bag?" Was all he said.

"And a lighter."

About half an hour later, Mad Dawg had found a small, secluded place off the cliffside near the ocean. He built a circle of rocks, tossed some sticks and paper onto it, and started a bonfire. Once the fire was blazing, Mad Dawg took the cards out, one at a time, and threw them into the fire, listening to the electrical crackling and sparking as they were turned to ash. Reaching into his bag, Dawg took one of the cigars out and cut the end off, before sticking it into the fire, before taking a drag off of it and exhaling.

"Wow." He said after a few moments of silence. "That's good."

He returned to burning the cards, until he felt something else in his bag, pulling it out, he scowled when he looked at a picture of Jade, Redbone, K5pl-An, and Jeff at a bar. He crumped the picture without a second thought and threw it into the fire.

" _That was a mistake. You were weak."_ He grumbled to himself. _"They nearly killed you due to your own naivety… Never again."_

He threw a few more cards into the fire pit and decided to remain silent. He remembered something Moira had asked him to do, focus on his past and if he could, salvage any memories from when he disappeared. Taking a few more puffs off his cigar he pondered that. What did he remember?

 _Years Ago…_

Sombra smiled as she set the sleeping Cerda on her bed. The tiny boy had fallen asleep on the drive back to one of her hideouts, and she did her best not to wake him as she carried him in. She smiled and rubbed his head, running her fingers through his hair. She smiled before knowing she had to get some work done.

Sitting at her desk, Sombra began tapping into servers, trying to find the location of some of Overwatch's agents. Despite the fact that they had been disbanded, Talon still wanted to hunt them down. While they had done a good amount of damage, the aftermath left the agents scattered, making it much, much more difficult to track them down. About half an hour later, Sombra felt something tugging on her pant leg. Looking down, Cerda looked up and let out a tiny whine.

"Aww, what's wrong cutie?" She cooed, picking up the tiny mutant. Her answer came when she heard his stomach growl. "Ah, you must be hungry."

Carrying him to the kitchen, Sombra sat him on the counter and got out some frozen waffles, decided to give him something simple, the thought that he may not be able to physically digest regular food came to her once the waffles went down. Oops.

She set the waffles on a plate and covered them with syrup before putting the plate in front of Cerda. He looked at the plate, then up at Sombra, then tilted his head on confusion.

"Go on, eat up!" Sombra laughed, finding his confusion adorable. Cerda looked back down at the food and sniffed it curiously.

The next thing Sombra knew, Cerda had launched into a frenzied attack on the food, messily devouring the waffles with animalistic actions, not even using his hands. After a few moments, he looked up at Sombra, his face covered in syrup and waffle chunks. Sombra blinked, then burst out laughing.

"Oh… oh my… I… you…" Sombra was practically in tears as she tried to collect herself. "That… that was priceless!"

Cerda looked down at the empty plate, then back to Sombra before pushing the plate towards her.

"Aw, you're still hungry?" Sombra said playfully, picking up his plate and returning to the toaster to make more for him and herself. After he had eaten, Sombra decided he needed a bath, and carried him to her bathroom. She sat him on the toilet as she began running the water.

"I'm going to clean you. Is this too hot?" Sombra asked, gently picking up Cerda and letting him put his hand under the water. He paused for a minute, then nodded. Sombra gently took the clothes he was wearing off and gave a slight gasp. She was shocked when she saw how many scars and marks were on his body. There were track marks and imprints all over his body. She slowly traced a noticeable scar along his chest before looking at him.

"Did Moira do this to you?"

Cerda nodded.

"Are you in pain?"

Cerda shook his head.

Sombra bit her lip but sighed nonetheless before gently setting Cerda into the tub. She set to washing him over, cleaning his hair and trying to scrub away any marks that would come off. She nodded in satisfaction as she noticed he was leaning into her hands, it was honestly adorable.

Once she was finished, she picked him up and wrapped him in a towel to dry him off. Cerda seemed to try to say something but couldn't form the words to do so.

"Can you talk?" Sombra asked. Cerda tried to say something, but it almost sounded like he couldn't talk. "Poor thing… I'll have to teach you."

The hacker found a sweater she hadn't work in a while and slipped it onto him, he was far too tiny to wear it like a shirt, but it worked as an improvised sleeping bag, and it would keep him warm. That's what mattered most. She sat the bundle on her bed and pulled the sheets up and over him, smiling down at the boy who looked back up with adoration at the hacker.

"Get some sleep hermano, I'll be back in a bit." She cooed, before kissing his forehead, making him coo happily. Leaving a lamp on, Sombra went back to work, stealing one last glance at Cerda and grinning. She was going to have fun with him.

 _Present Day…_

As another card crackled and burned in the fire, Mad Dawg smiled. Sombra was always good to him. Sure, he knew that she'd probably try and blackmail him nowadays, but the memories meant something to him. It was an odd sense of family he never really had before, well, aside from Akiko.

" _Wonder how Moira would react if I called her 'Mom'…"_ Mad Dawg chuckled. She'd probably go silent, then blast him with her biotic grip.

Tossing the last card into the fire, Mad Dawg sighed, looking out over the ocean view. It really was beautiful, and now with the sunsetting, it was breathtaking.

You're breathtaking!

Mad Dawg knew he should probably go run the route he was going to take tomorrow, get a lay of the land. Try and find any shortcuts or potential hideouts where he could keep watch. But for now, he was content to just take a few minutes and watch the sea. He knew there was probably going to be a massive storm tomorrow, so he'd enjoy the calm while he could.

But little did he know just how bad the storm was going to be…

 **A.N. Hey, so…**

 **I just wanna say this. What the actual hell Blizzard?**

 **I'm not gonna go into details here, but… I'm feeling kind of awkward about writing this and OW: A Dawg's Tale, but for now, I'm just gonna keep writing. I don't like what's happening right now, but I hate politics even more. Regardless, I stand with Hong Kong, the people deserve better, and this will be the only time I bring this up. So hopefully you can still come read my stories and enjoy them for what they are, just dumb stories written by some socially awkward writer who just tries to live day-to-day.**

 **I love you all.**

 **-SkorchNTorch**


	10. Dokimés kai froúta drákon

Mad Dawg groaned as he slowly woke up. It had been three days since he had landed in Ilios, and the jet lag had finally hit. Thankfully, he was able to spend most of the second day sleeping it off, having pulled the blinds down at put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door and kept the lights off. Now it was the third day, and Dawg knew he had to get up and going. Walking out to the balcony, Mad Dawg yawned and stretched before looking down over the town. He could see people preparing for the celebration today, it occurred to Mad Dawg now that he actually didn't know what the celebration was for, or what Widowmaker was assigned to do. Well, that was a slight lie, she was probably going to kill someone. It wasn't like she was known for her pies or something…

" _Honestly, I think she'd be more of a jam-maker."_ Mad Dawg mused to himself. _"What would that be? Widow Kiss Jam? Reaper Raspberry? Sombra Sweet Peach?"_

Laughing to himself, Mad Dawg shook his head and went back into the room. He got changed into some simple clothes, he wore track shorts and a thin hoodie. For now, he kept it tied around his waist as he sat back down on the bed, turning on the tv. Flipping through the channels, Mad Dawg tried to find something to watch, or generally do. About half an hour later, the phone next to his bed began ringing. Sighing in relief, Mad Dawg picked up the phone, ready to get to work.

"Holy crap, what took you guys so long!?" He grumbled annoyed. "I've been sitting on my ass for the past two days!"

"…Hi to you too." Sombra grumbled. "Where are you?"

"The hotel." Mad Dawg replied flatly, the lack of activity and nervousness concerning the mission kicking in at full gear, leaving him twitching sporadically every now and again.

"…ugh. Doomfist wants to talk to you." Sombra sighed, clearly annoyed with Mad Dawg's attitude.

"You destroyed the cards, correct?" Doomfist asked once he was on the line, not wasting any time and getting right to the point.

"Yeah." Mad Dawg replied, his tine still clearly tired. "Burned em', mixed em' with sand, then buried the bag in the ocean under some rocks. Might've been overkill, but they're gone."

"Good." Akande said. "In about three hours, Reaper will call you. He'll give you directions on where to go retrieve some additional gear. After that, follow the path and keep watch for any members of Misfit Pride."

"Okay, cool." Mad Dawg nodded. "Hey, Mefisto… Aside from those Misfit guys… what's going on? It's Ochi Day and all that, but what's the mission here? If you're only after the Pride, I don't get why Reaper and Widow are coming."

The line went silent, as if Doomfist was thinking something over. After a few moments of silence, he finally replied. Sadly, his answer wasn't what Dawg wanted to hear.

"It dosen't concern you." He replied. "We believe you'll be better prepared to do your part of the mission if you don't know all the parts. This isn't something we want you to screw up, stay to your assignment and we'll explain everything after."

Mad Dawg remained silent, trying to think of an excuse or a reason as to why they should tell him everything, but eventually he gave up. Sighing deeply, he replied:

"Fine, sure." He muttered. "I'll be waiting on Gabe. Rook out."

Without waiting for a reply, Mad Dawg hung up the phone and flopped back on the bed. He felt annoyed, but also could kind of see why he didn't need to know everything. Sure, if Widowmaker was here to kill someone, that was her mission. But wouldn't things go smoother if he knew who the target was? Yeah, now that he thought about it, things would go a lot better! If he knew what was going on, he could make sure people don't try and get in the way! He could make sure that Misfit Pride didn't try and kill whoever Widow was here for first! He SHOULD know what was going on!

Grabbing the shades Hakim mad, Mad Dawg put them to open a communication line to Talon to explain why they were wrong. However, as the AI activated, something happened that Mad Dawg wasn't expecting.

"You seem angry." C.R.A.P. spoke up. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"No." Mad Dawg growled. "Open a line to Talon, I need to talk with Doomfist."

"Are you sure?" C.R.A.P. asked. "Is this because you haven't been told what the mission is?"

"Yes."

"Have you considered that this may be a test?" C.R.A.P. suddenly asked, making Mad Dawg pause.

"What?" He muttered, surprised by the question.

"Upon running the issue through several different options for declining you information, the most logical answer is that this may be a hidden test." The AI continued. "Talon may have given you this mission due to your ability to not only blend in among a crowd, but also to see if you are willing to listen to their chain of command."

"Huh… that makes sense…" Mad Dawg muttered, several things connecting in his mind. Sure, he had broken Reaper out of Titan's Cell, helped kill Logan Trejo, and saved their asses from Trinity, but it still could be argued that he may be a double-agent. Admittedly that idea was incredibly stupid, but Talon wasn't one to just assume anything. If this was a test to see if he truly was loyal, then he would prove without a shadow of a doubt that he was.

"Yo, C-Man." Mad Dawg suddenly spoke up. "Show me the pathways again."

"Of course, activating pathway simulation." The Ai replied, and as Mad Dawg looked out over the city, he could see the line he would follow.

"Okay, are you able to determine if there's any security cameras around here?" Mad Dawg asked.

"Scanning… scanning…. Scan complete. There are approximately eleven cameras that will be active along the path you will be taking.

"Good to know… Okay C, find me the nearest used electronics store."

Reaper took position on a rooftop, keeping to a shadow cast by a billboard, he and Widowmaker were in position, and all that was left was to see if Mad Dawg was too. Still, he decided he was going to call him a few minutes early, to see if the kid was ready or if he was improvising this like he did the Titan's Cell escape. Clicking on the small communication device, he waited for a few moments until the other end was picked up.

"This is Rook." Mad Dawg said in a low tone, and Reaper could hear people laughing in the background.

"Where are you?" Reaper asked, cutting right to the chase.

"Just outside this place called… hang on." There was a pause for a moment, then Mad Dawg spoke up again. "I just remembered I can't read Greek. I'm outside a bakery."

"Are you on the path?"

"Yes. Are you and Bishop on tour?" Mad Dawg asked. Reaper paused, unsure of what Mad Dawg was asking, then he realized what he was getting at.

"We're on a secure line. No one knows about these channels."

"Hey, Knight? All due respect, I'm surrounded by people." Mad Dawg hissed, ducking into an alley. "I don't want people hearing things that may put the job at risk."

Reaper was a bit surprised at Dawg's reasoning, but also decided he wasn't gonna give him any reason to change the course he was on. If he wanted to take this dead seriously, Reaper would be insane to try and stop him.

"We're just setting up." Reaper replied. "Have you seen any of the roadies?"

"No." Mad Dawg answered. "I haven't seen Overwatch either. Or you two, but I'm gonna assume all's okay then."

"Affirmative, Knight out." Reaper said, ending their brief conversation. He turned and nodded to Widowmaker who nodded in reply and went to her position. Sitting atop a roof on a wicker chair, a large sunhat covering most of her face, along with the book she was concealing the rest with.

"The kid's complying." Reaper said, opening a different channel to Doomfist. "So far, he's done what he's been told to do and asked no questions. Is he on the path?"

"Yes, actually." Doomfist replied, a bit surprised. "I thought he might try and prove himself by trying to hunt the Misfit Pride down himself. But if he's complying, best to leave this be."

Meanwhile, Mad Dawg was drinking a bubble tea as he continued along the path he was ordered to walk. As he made his way up some stairs to a nearby bench overlooking the square, Dawg froze in his tracks when he saw who was in front of him.

"Knight? I found the queen." Mad Dawg whispered into the comm link. "Knight?"

Mad Dawg didn't get a response and sighed, deciding to act casual, he kept walking, not looking at the small group as he passed by, but he stole the briefest of glances as he walked by, confirming it was her. Lilith was standing about ten feet away from him, what was he supposed to do?! On the one hand, he could take them on, cut them to pieces and keep moving. But his brain was screaming for him to just keep walking, he couldn't disobey the orders he was given.

 _Why do you care so much about some damn orders? She's right there! Rip her to shreds!_

" _I can't."_ Mad Dawg argued with himself. _"I need to do this by the book, I need to work with them so they can help me find everything from my past."_

"Rook?" Reaper's voice suddenly came, but before Dawg could answer, someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, kid." A female voice said.

Turning around, Mad Dawg felt even more torn as he came face-to-face with Lilith.

"Who are you and why are you standing around like a creeper?" The woman asked, clearly not too pleased with Dawg's weird behaviour. This wasn't helped that everyone on the voice line and back at Talon HQ were seeing and hearing what was happening, and no one really knew what to do.

"He has to get out of there." Sombra finally got out. "If he doesn't, they're gonna kill him."

"And if he kills them, we lose our only potential tail to their base!" Hakim countered. Doomfist however, seemed oddly calm, wanting to see how the newest recruit would react.

"I have them in my sights." Widowmaker suddenly spoke through the line. "I can drop them both if need be."

"Not yet." Was all Doomfist said, before adding: "Let's see where this goes."

"S..sorry…" Mad Dawg finally got out putting on an act and taking off his glasses, and causing those watching to lose the video feed. "I uh… I'm… I'm kinda sorta… really…" Mad Dawg coughed and shook his head. "Right, whatever. Look, I'm _stupidly_ high right now. I came up here to try and ride it out."

Lilith blinked then studied his eyes, seeing they were a faded red, and his pupils were unnaturally large.

"Hm. Alright then." She finally nodded, seeming to buy the ruse… enough. "You may wanna stay off the main roads, the cops don't like it when people are sparking up."

"Yeah, cool… gotcha…"

As Mad Dawg made his way down the hill, his somewhat heightened senses picked up on someone following him. Dawg didn't react, he just kept walking forward before suddenly ducking behind a tree.

"Hey. Someone's following me." He whispered into his comm. "Should I take them out?"

"No. Don't do anything that could give you away." Reaper replied. Mad Dawg looked down at the man he had just killed.

"Crap." He muttered.

"You killed him, didn't you?"

"No…"

"Omega, get out of there." Reaper ordered. "You need to get back to the town. You've done your part, now we need you to make sure the rest of the plan goes off."

Mad Dawg didn't reply, but quickly climbed the tree he was hiding behind, and began jumping branch-to-branch.

"The kid's nuts." Hakim remarked, shaking his head. "He nearly blew the whole mission…"

"Again, Omega was designed to be a fighter, not a reconnaissance scout." Moira insisted. "This isn't a good idea for him."

"He's as human as he is a mutant." Doomfist reasoned. "He should be able to take orders."

Before Moira could try to argue her point, the last thing anyone wanted to hear was said.

"Hey? Boss?" Dawg's voice suddenly came. "We got a big problem."

Looking with his glasses, C.R.A.P. seemed to highlight several figures, and it was clear who they were.

Overwatch agents.

Ducking into an alley, Mad Dawg began trying to think of a strategy, this wasn't good. Not just because they were Overwatch agents, but he recognized two of them. The Green cyborg ninja dude and the jetpack woman from Titan's cell. If they saw him, this would be _bad_. Sure, he dind't think his face had been see-

"Shit." Mad Dawg cursed, paling slightly when he remembered something. He had knocked out a guard and taken his clothes. While he had worn sunglasses and kept his head down, there still may have been something.

"Knight? This is Rook." Mad Dawg hissed. "This is really bad, I'm pretty sure these agents know me from our world tour in Titan's Cell."

Reaper froze for a moment, realizing what Dawg was implying. Great, just great… Now he had to balance all this while making sure Widowmaker didn't fail her mission.

"I think I have a plan." Mad Dawg suddenly spoke again.

"What's that?" Reaper asked.

"There's a manhole nearby, if I stick to the sewers, I might be okay."

Reaper thought it over, before finally speaking.

"For now, stick to the streets. Just act like someone celebrating the festival. If the agents see you or you have reason to believe your being followed, then go for the sewers."

"But what about you guys?"

"Kid, we've been at this a lot longer than you." Reaper replied honestly. "We'll be fine."

Mad Dawg sighed, then finally said: "Fine. I don't like this, but okay."

"And Rook? Under no circumstances are you to engage them." Reaper said with absolute sincerity.

"But-"

"No." Reaper growled.

"…fine…"

Mad Dawg hung up the call and stepped back into the streets, deciding to get something to drink. He wasn't huge on bubble tea or any of that hipster crap, but one of the stores apparently had dragon fruit tea, and that did interest him.

 _At the same time…_

"Wait a sec…" Genji muttered, narrowing his gaze at a figure in the distance. "That son of a bitch…"

"Genji?" Tracer asked. "You okay love?"

"It's him." Genji scowled, unseating his blade slightly. "It's that freak from Titan's Cell, the one who broke Reaper out."

The agents were left in mute shock as they followed Genji's gaze towards the ground. Pharah noticed the figure Genji was staring at, walking away in the opposite direction.

"You may be right." She nodded. "Genji, follow him. We'll make sure the Prime Minster is safe."

Once Genji had disappeared into the crowd, Lena turned back to the others.

"You think that kid's with Talon?" She asked.

"Maybe." McCree shrugged, feeling a bit on edge now. "If that's the kid broke Reaper out of prison, I still have the question of why? If he is a Talon agent, that would make sense, but if he wasn't… why would he risk so much to try?"

Meanwhile, Genji had gripped a small blade he kept on him for close-quarters fights. If this stranger was who he thought he was, then Genji was going to bring him back… one way or another. The cyborg had made peace with what he had become long ago, but he had never forgiven himself for letting Reyes become what he was. And this… kid, had broken him out so he could keep doing what he had been doing. This kid had a _lot_ to answer for.

Mad Dawg was munching on a sandwich he had picked up from a store, now just enjoying the festivities. The drugs he had taken were still making him a little hazy, and when the high-pitched beeping began going off indicating an incoming call, Dawg didn't pay it any attention.

Widowmaker dethatched the scope from her weapon and was watching the members of Overwatch. She noted Genji seemed to break off and turned the scope to watch him, she was confused where he was going, but her eyes widened when she realized he was following Mad Dawg.

"Rook. Rook!" She hissed into the communication device, only to not get any response. "Mad Dawg!"

Again, silence.

" _Merde!"_

"What's wrong?" Reaper asked.

"Dawg is being followed, and either he hasn't noticed, or he's trying to lose him. Either way, he isn't answering calls."

"Kid if you're trying to take on Genji I swear I'm gonna gut you…" Reaper growled, now trying to contact him. After a few beeps, Mad Dawg answered.

"Hey, I found this awesome sandwich shop, I might pick some up for you guys on my way back. What do you like on your sandwich?"

"You're being followed." Reaper growled in a low tone. "Genji, the cyborg who tried to kill you back in Titan's Cell knows you're here, you need to lose him."

"…What should I do?" Mad Dawg asked quietly, a hint of fear notable in his voice. "I need to keep on-"

"Kid. Forget the path." Reaper suddenly cut him off. "Bishop and I have this covered. You need to get out of there, _NOW."_

"Okay. You got it." Mad Dawg finally answered, a slight sigh in his voice. Mad Dawg hung up and looked around, unsure of where to go. He was in the middle of the square, and he needed to get out of there… Noticing a building under construction, Mad Dawg slipped under the safety fence and slipped into the building. Picking up a bit of speed, Mad Dawg free ran through the building, using barrels and freshly-laid bricks to make his way quickly up the building, running onto the catwalk Mad Dawg jumped and rolled when he landed on the next rooftop. He dropped onto his back and held his breath as he heard someone making their way up the building as well, their breath somewhat distorted, almost metallic.

Mad Dawg slowly reached for his- wait. He didn't have any weapons.

" _Ah, crap."_ Mad Dawg mentally groaned. His eyes widened when he saw the green-cyborg land on the rooftop a few feet away from him, with his back turned to him. Mad Dawg slowly climbed to his feet, trying to think of an exit strategy.

"You." Genji stated with hate in his voice, suddenly turning and pointing his blade at Mad Dawg. "You have a lot to answer to."

"Whoa, hold on there, Green Ranger." Mad Dawg said in fake shock, holding his hands up. "I have _no_ idea what you're talking about. Is this because I went into that construction zone without a helmet?"

"You know what you did." Genji coldly responded, Mad Dawg noting that Genji seemed to have more control over himself then when they last met. That wasn't good for him…

"Uh… Is this because I upper-deckered the women's toilet in that vegan resturaunt?" Mad Dawg asked again.

"No. But you're coming back with me."

"Aw geez, did I sleep with your girlfriend or something?" Mad Dawg shook his head. "Look dude, I'm sorry. She said she was single and-"

"Silence." Genji ordered, dashing forward and putting a blade to Mad Dawg's throat. "Security footage in Dorado picked you up in a hotel, an hour later Logan Trejo was killed and you were seen leaving without your guitar a few minutes later. Your voice is the exact same as the masked suspect who performed an act of terrorism, as well as assault of a military officer."

"Whoa man. I'm just a kid." Dawg said taking a step back, being pushed towards the edge of the building. "I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about-"

This gave Genji pause, and he took a slight step back and let some of the tension in his body leave. It was clear this kid wasn't armed, and he needed to be careful. But he also was rather sure this was who he was looking for. His voice, his height, everything seemed to line up.

Meanwhile, Widowmaker watched as the prime minister of Greece took to the strange. There was applause and cheers as he waved to everyone in the crowd. She had a feeling something was wrong, but now she didn't have time to think about it. Her scope was lined up, she just had to wait for a few more moments…

"You have two choices." Genji spoke again. "Come with me, and answer some questions we have, or I'll drag you back."

"Can I think about it?"

"Take one more step and I'll decide your answer myself." Genji warned, moving the blade ever so slightly away from Dawg's throat. If his suspicions were wrong, he just made a _MASSIVE_ mistake. He knew in his gut this was the Talon hang-around there had been rumors of, but if he was wrong, there would be massive repercussions.

Reaper was watching the two through his binoculars from across the city, he wasn't sure what to say or do, or even how to feel. Sure, Mad Dawg was just some kid, and technically wasn't even human, but he _had_ busted him out of Titan's Cell. Moral quandaries aside, he knew right now he couldn't do anything. If he tried to contact Dawg or distract Genji, it would give away their position. All he could do was trust that Dawg had some sort of a plan. Back on the rooftop, Mad Dawg cast a quick glance over the side of the building, it was a long drop. He also couldn't try and grab Genji and throw him over, that would result in Overwatch knowing something was wrong and most likely giving away his identity.

"I'm sorry mom…" Mad Dawg finally whispered, tears in his eyes.

"What?"

Mad Dawg jumped.

"NO!" Genji shouted, dashing forward and trying to grab Mad Dawg, and watched in shock as Mad Dawg fell from the top of an apartment building, falling over twenty stories to the ocean and rocks below. He stared in horror, realizing what he may have just done.

"Genji! What happened!?" Tracer suddenly asked, having heard the tail end of the conversation.

"He… he jumped." Genji finally answered.

"What?!"

"I had him backed into a corner, I told him we only wanted to talk… and he jumped."

"Is… is he…"

"Lena. No one could survive that fall." Genji answered solemnly. "And… our sources were wrong, I can't confirm or deny if he was the Talon agent… but he was still a teenager."

Genji stared over the edge for a few moments, looking at the drop. He was debating if the kid could still be alive… but they were nearly twenty stories up, there was no way the kid could've survived that fall…

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden chorus of horrified screams. Whirling around, Genji ran and looked over the building's edge, seeing the crowd below had fallen into complete panic, and the Prime Minister, was alive.

"Wait. What?" Genji muttered.

"Genji! Get down here!" McCree suddenly shouted through their comms. "Someone shot the Minister! We need to find the shooter!"

Genji didn't think twice as he jumped off the rooftop, sliding down the side of the building, and took off running when he hit the ground.

"What the hell happened?!" Reaper demanded angrily.

"Someone else shot him!" Widowmaker snapped, angered herself after missing her target. She re-aligned her sights and fired the shot she hadn't gotten a chance to. It was hard with the security trying to get him into a car so they could get out, but the crowds were disorienting everyone, and the guards made the mistake of stopping for just a moment to make sure he was okay.

Bullseye.

The Prime Minister fell to the ground dead, his security freaking out, aiming their weapons in all directions, trying to find the shooter. Widow frowned when she saw several known members of Misfit Pride making their way through an alley just behind the guards. She briefly considered if they were the ones who had failed to assassinate the Prime Minister, maybe it was to get him off stage so they could grab him. Regardless, they jumped the guards, and dragged one of them off. She had no idea what they were doing with the others, but she didn't care.

"He's dead. We need to go." She nodded, getting up and heading towards the evac point. "Where's the child?"

"I don't know." Reaper answered. "He jumped, if he's alive, he isn't answering. We need to go."

"What if Overwatch finds him?" Widowmaker asked, grabbing Reaper's arm. "I may not care too much about him, but he's too dangerous to leave out there."

"He jumped twenty stories into water and rocks to avoid being caught." Reaper replied, before beginning to walk off again. "If they do catch him, the kid won't speak. And if he's dead… Then we don't need to worry about it."

Widowmaker nodded, knowing Reaper was right, and the two took off towards the evacuation spot, knowing their job was done… but they didn't know who fired the first shot.

Mad Dawg's eyes slowly opened as he found himself washed up on a small island off the coast of Ilios. Mad Dawg dug his hand into the sand and pulled himself upwards, groaning in pain as he was losing blood like crazy. The impact on the water had snapped one of his arms and severely damaged a leg, then the rocks had hit him… Well, not hit him, more like impaled him. He figured, he had passed out as he began to hit the rocks and felt them digging into his back like knives. The sharp rocks Dawg was then dragged through in the undertow had sliced him all over, nothing worse than he had dealt with before, but in the chaos of the escape, his new injuries, and his blood loss, his healing factor hadn't been able to decide where to go to work first. In extreme pain, Mad Dawg weakly picked up C.R.A.P. (which had miraculously stayed tied around his neck) and hit the 'Call' button. A few beeps later, a familiar frantic voice came through.

"Cerda! Where are you?!" Sombra shouted.

"I'm here." Mad Dawg weakly replied. "Still in Ilios, I'm on a small island a ways off the shore of the city." He paused, taking a few deep breaths then added: "He saw me. That green robo-dude, he saw my face. But I don't think- AGH!" Mad Dawg was cut off when his bones twisted unnaturally to begin the healing process.

"Cerda?!"

"Sorry, leg's busted, pushing it back into place." He answered. "Listen, I don't know if they can connect me to the Titan's Cell incident, but apparently they have footage of me when I helped kill Logan Trejo."

"Omega, are you certain that you're not being followed?" Doomfist suddenly asked, taking over the conversation.

"No, not really." Mad Dawg groaned, feeling sand rubbing into his wounds. "Gah! I blacked out when I hit the rocks. I have no idea how long it's been…"

"Kid. It's been three days." Hakim finally spoke up, his voice clearly in disbelief. "How are you alive? You should've drowned!"

"Well, my guess is my body kept healing, taking damage, healing, taking damage…" Mad Dawg groaned, lying back on the sand. "Where are you guys?"

"On our way back." Doomfist answered. "One of our agents will pick you up. If you can, try and stay hidden."

Mad Dawg jerked his head up and looked at the small island. It was maybe thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. There were two trees in the center, and that was all.

"…sure." Mad Dawg finally answered, only for a loud beeping to be heard, then the call to end suddenly. "Akande!? Agh… Akande?!"

The message _please recharge_ appeared on the glasses.

"Aye… figured as much." Mad Dawg sighed, finally forcing himself into an upright sitting position. He didn't know how long it would be until he was picked up, and there was one thing he had to do, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Slowly, Mad Dawg dragged himself back into the clear blue water, seething in pain as the salt water hit his wounds. This wasn't exactly a smart idea, but he needed his wounds clean so sand wouldn't be trapped in his body.

" _Well. I can cross Ilios off of my bucket list…"_ Mad Dawg thought, and chuckled weakly.

About an hour later, a small boat pulled up, and two men got out and picked up Mad Dawg, carrying him onto the boat before driving off, Mad Dawg weakly grinned, still extremely sore but laughed:

"filísou ton kólo mou, genikís táxis!" As they headed back to base.


	11. Pure Shores

Dawg had returned (in mostly one piece) from his last job, and spent a few days being stitched back together and letting his healing factor fix what it could. Annoyingly, his leg hadn't properly healed, so It was stuck in a cast. There were mixed emotions on his last job; on the one hand, the job had been completed, and Moira was genuinely shocked when she heard what Dawg had done in order to avoid being caught, she wouldn't say it to his face, but she felt a sense of pride, and she didn't know why. But on the other hand, no one knew who fired the first shot. Widowmaker was angry at her initial failure, and initially had blamed Mad Dawg. But quickly came around to realize it literally wasn't possible for him to have been the shooter as he was being held a blade point at that moment. Regardless, Mad Dawg had never seen her like this before. Still, the job was done…

…this was only slightly overshadowed by the bodies of the Prime Minister's security found the next day. All of them had a symbol burned into their chests, and one of them had clearly suffered more than the others. It was clear Misfit Pride was after one of them, and ended up taking all of them. There was no rhyme or reason (as far as anyone at Talon could tell), but everyone suspected that one of the guards was an ex-member.

On the bright side of all this, Mad Dawg was given some time to recover, and had arrived back in Miami. It had been a decently long while since he had met the Talon agents at the Twisted Metal festival, and he was happy to be back. Spinning the wheels on the wheel chair he was stuck in, Dawg rolled back into his old home.

"Hey, you looking for-Kace?!" A familiar voice began but exclaimed when he saw who was back.

"Yo, Firetank! My man!" Mad Dawg waved with a huge grin. The Omnic stare in disbelief, then jumped over the counter and high-fived Mad Dawg in a greeting.

"Kid… when did you get back!?" He exclaimed, still taking in that his friend was here again. He hadn't assumed he was dead, and Kace had disappeared for long periods before, but there was usually a message, or an email, or a call. "And… whoa. What happened to your leg?"

"It's a long story T." Mad Dawg shook his head.

"Hm. I can believe that." The Omnic nodded in agreement before adding in a lowered tone: "Those people that were looking for you… what did they want? Who were they?"

"I'll tell you in the back." Mad Dawg answered. Wheeling off towards the apartment attached to the store. Firetank flipped the sign to 'Out for a rip' and followed his friend. The two sat (or, Firetank sat, Dawg was already sitting) and Dawg began explaining what had happened.

"So, that group that was here… They…" He began, trying to figure out the best way to explain this without endangering him. "Look, you know I had those dreams, right?"

"Yeah. Almost every night." Firetank nodded grimly. "They had something to do with them?"

"Sorta… It's just…" Mad Dawg began trying to find the right wording. "Look, Tank? I need to tell you something… I'm…"

"Gay?" Firetank asked.

"What?" Mad Dawg blinked.

"If you want to tell me your gay, that's totally fine kid." Firetank shrugged. "I'm your friend, it doesn't matter who you love, you're still my friend."

"Tank, I'm a mutant!" Mad Dawg cut in.

"Oh." Firetank simply replied. "I'm sorry, what? You're…"

"A mutant." Mad Dawg answered. "I'm not human, at least, not entirely. I've always kind of assumed that I was a mutant, or had some sort of mutation… but recent I had everything put into context for me."

"Hm." Firetank mused, nodding wordlessly.

"The people looking for me, well, they knew one of the people who helped… raise me in a sense."

The Omnic seemed to be thinking about something for a minute, almost debating if he wanted to tell his friend something, before finally speaking his mind.

"I'll be real Dawg, you should be careful." Firetank frowned. "I may have only met them for a minute, but there's some real bad vibes coming off of them. I could tell they ain't Overwatch, and thank the Lord for that, but I get the feeling there not the best people in the world either."

"Yeah, well moral quandaries aside, they're the only ones who can help me figure out _what_ I am and where I came from." Mad Dawg agreed.

Cracking open a drink he cast a glance out the window at the bright community that surrounded the record shop he had spent so long in. Smiling to himself, Mad Dawg let the silence remain, the pair simply thinking things over, or enjoying simply being back.

"So, your leg…" Firetank began. "Who did you piss off enough to get them to break it?"

"Ho boy…" Mad Dawg sighed. "You know that biker gang that hangs around the Twisted Metal festival, El Diablo Guerreros?"

"Yeah, they're mean SOB's…" Firetank mused.

"Well, I slept with the leader's wife." Mad Dawg stated, and Firetank almost violently shot to attention.

"YOU DID WHAT!?" HE shouted in utter disbelief. "ARE YOU INSANE!?"

"Yeah, kinda." Mad Dawg admitted. "I don't even remember how or why, but one thing led to another and we… well, had fun, so to say."

"Kid, you're only like sixteen! What the hell!?"

"I guess you can imagine her husband wasn't too happy…" Mad Dawg added.

"Kace have you lost your mind?! They're not gonna just stop at breaking your leg! They're gonna track you down and torture you until they get bored and rip your organs out one at a time! You need to run Kace! You need to get out and…" Firetank began in an absolute panic, but when he saw Dawg's cheeky grin, he realized something. "You're lying to me, aren't you?"

"Yup." Mad Dawg answered.

"You didn't sleep with a bride of Diablo, did you?"

"Yup."

"You were screwing with me, weren't you?"

"Yup."

"You broke your leg by falling off of that giant steel leviathan, didn't you?"

"Yup."

"I hate you."

"Yup."

The Omnic sighed and rubbed his face. He had known Kace long enough that he really should've seen this coming. But for some reason, he didn't. Mad dawg laughed at his reaction and leaned back in his chair.

"So, these people you met, who are they. Really?" Firetank asked.

"They're… I don't know how to explain it." Mad Dawg shrugged. He trusted Firetank, he honestly trusted him with his life, but he didn't know how the Omnic would react to finding out he was currently rolling with Talon. "They're part of this organization that monitors people with mutated genetic structures, and ensures they can live the best lives they can."

Sounds like something out of a comic." Firetank snarked.

"Yeah, well they're better than Overwatch." Mad Dawg muttered.

"Not that that's saying much…"

"True." Mad Dawg nodded, taking a drink.

While the two caught up on their past, neither one noticed that the security camera in the main building turned around and zoomed in on the two. Back at the base, Sombra smiled as she saw Mad Dawg and F-3 was it? Mad Dawg and his Omnic friend catching up. She was _supposed_ to be reviewing the footage from the square shooting, to try and figure out where the members of Misfit Pride came from, but she already had, six times. She hadn't found anything out of the ordinary. As with any para-military-guerrilla-mercenary group, they were smart. They stuck to the crowds, they hid in the alleyways. If they hadn't been so sloppy when it came to grabbing the bodyguards, Sombra may not have been able to even get a read on them.

" _But were they sloppy?"_ Sombra wondered. _"It seemed almost like they wanted to be seen… Then again, Cerda nearly blew the whole thing up by nearly being seen by them."_

Thankfully, Mad Dawg's little one-on-one chat had got them another good look at Lilith's face, until Dawg took his glasses off that was. The hacker chuckled slightly at the memory of Moira's mortified expression when Dawg had admitted to being baked out of his mind. She honestly expected Moira to reprimand him for that, but oddly Doomfist had told her to let it go. She wasn't too happy, but she also couldn't deny that Dawg had gone above what they expected from him when he jumped twenty stories into the water. That didn't change the fact that there was still a good deal of confusion amongst the team.

"Well?" Came a gravelly voice. "Anything?"

" _Nada_ Reaper." The hacker shook her head in annoyance. "same as the last three times you asked."

"Well, Doomfist is going to ask me to ask you for a fifth time eventually, so you'd better find something."

"Look, I'm beginning to question if these guys knew we were there. The way they staged their attack, where they left the bodies-"

"Could've just as easily been to try and scare Overwatch." Reaper cut her off with a valid point.

"Ugh…" She muttered. "Yeah, yeah…"

Meanwhile, Doomfist and Moira were looking over some old files Moira had kept on Omega-725, Moira felt awkward looking at all the old ideas, the plans she and Jax had… Still, Omega had somehow survived and returned, so now she needed to evolve her plans, like she had originally planned to evolve Omega.

"Jackson referred to this as the 'Nightstalker'." Moira said, looking at a picture of Mad Dawg in his other form. "Neither one of us thought it was possible, or that it ever would've succeeded."

"They why waste your time on it?" Doomfist asked. "You may have explained this to me long ago, but things have changed."

"Well, we didn't plan for him to become a full-blown monster like he does. The theory was to make a living organisms' cells change on command. Our idea was to make it possible so that you could potentially make one section of a person's body be super-charged. For example, in the middle of a fist fight, you would be able to make someone's arm suddenly exponentially more powerful on command."

"Do you have any idea what may have caused this change?"

"No. And that annoys me." Moira sighed in frustration. "Perhaps the mixture of DNA and other components used to make him formed a chemical structure akin to some sort of wild animal. But I can't say for sure."

Pushing a few sheets aside, one caught Akande's attention.

"What was this meant to be?" He asked, looking at a diagram of a brain that appeared to be both human and computer."

"Ah, that." Moira blinked. "Another plan we had was to effectively attach a device to his brain that would allow him to be more… open to suggestion. And if need be, either force him to follow commands or face termination."

"Why didn't you go through with it?"

"Well, the issue was as his brain developed, we wouldn't be able to make the components expand with it."

"Fair, but that may have been useful." Akande remarked. "Still, it may not have been in the way we expected, but you still did provide us with the weapon we approached you for."

"I think I got something!" Sombra suddenly called. The others stopped what they were doing and gathered around to see what Sombra had found.

"Okay, so this guy." She began, pointing to the guard who had the scars and clear signs of torture all over his body when he was found. "His name is Alexios DeCray. This should be kinda obvious at this point, but he was a member of Misfit Pride at one point."

"That would make sense. They wouldn't want loose ends." Doomfist nodded.

"Well, I was able to find this." Sombra continued, pulling up a message from his phone.

L,

I don't care. I quit years ago, you and I went our separate ways. I scraped the ink, burned the cloth, I'm. Done. I'm not doing any favors for you, and I won't let you hurt him.

A

"This wasn't just a hit on the Prime Minister, they were trying to get to Alexios." Reaper surmised.

"Yeah. That doesn't give us an answer as to who fired the first shot, but it's something."

"Is that all?" Moira asked.

"No. I also found this." Sombra replied, pulling up an address. "It's old. Like, from a message sent three or four years ago, but it seems to be a location for a hold hideout."

"Good work." Doomfist nodded. "Reaper, you and Moira should go check this location, see if you can find anything that will lead us to the Misfits."

"What about Kace?" Reaper asked. "Shouldn't he go with me?"

"As much as I'd prefer to send him, he's in no condition to travel." Doomfist answered. "Even if he was here, Moira is the best we have potentially digging up anything we may miss."

The two nodded knowing Doomfist had a point.

"Are we just gonna leave Dawg to his own devices?" Sombra asked her final question.

"No, I've sent Hakim with him, he'll ensure Dawg doesn't do anything… unpredictable."

"Alright then. What do you need me to do?"

"I have a job for you." Doomfist said with a slight smirk on his face.

Back in Miami, Mad Dawg and Hakim were walking (or rolling) down the boardwalk. The two didn't really have anything planned, but to be honest, they were fine with that.

"So, I remember me and you spent some time in… Iran?" Mad Dawg finally asked.

"No, Cairo my friend." Hakim answered. "Moira wanted you to learn of another culture, so she had you stay with me for a time."

"Ah, that explains it." Mad Dawg nodded. "Why do I remember half-naked women and bongs?"

"Well, first of all those were hookah pipes." Hakim replied. "And secondly, those women were dancers. I may have been a bit drunk when I hired them, and they may have been more exotic then I intended, but who cares."

"What was I supposed to learn, anyways?" Mad Dawg laughed.

"Ah… something, something… culture and ethics and… ah who really cared?" Hakim laughed, waving a hand as he spoke. "I remember you kept finding your way to the rooftop. Some of the servants ended up putting nets in the courtyard in case you fell."

"Really?" Mad Dawg grinned.

"Yes, and you then proceeded to see how far up from you could jump into the net without being hurt."

Mad Dawg laughed, a series of memories suddenly flashing through his head. He remembered he and Hakim had gotten along pretty well. The older man had been… hesitant to say the least about having a kid in his home, but quickly the two found common ground. Maybe it was because he didn't have to actually raise the kid, or because the two kept coming up with weird weapon ideas, but they had gotten along great.

"Hey kid. I've been meaning to ask. Why'd you forget about us?" Hakim asked.

"…huh?" Mad Dawg replied with a raised brow.

"Look, I get you're your own independent man and all that, and maybe you wanted to backpack through the world or something. But you never called, never wrote, ya just up and vanished. Why was that?"

"I…" Mad Dawg began, trying to focus and dig up old memories. "I…"

He closed his eyes and saw some brief flashes. Was he holding onto Reaper? He was over a cliff, that much was certain.

" _Complete… the… mission…"_

Mad Dawg then saw himself sitting across from Akiko, both were clearly younger.

" _What's your name little one?"_

"I don't know." Mad Dawg frowned. "Did you ever ask Moira? She'd probably know."

"Weird thing about that, she doesn't like talking about you." Hakim replied. This was certainly news to Dawg. "Or, at least what happened to you. She's all about 'you learn from your failures' and stuff like that, so she just kept going forward."

"I don't blame her…" Mad Dawg said quietly, seeming somewhat downcast. Hakim looked down at him with a confused look, then his eyes widened when he realized what Dawg was getting at.

"You really care for her." It wasn't a question, more of a statement.

"I mean… she MADE me!" Mad Dawg said, seeming a mixture of exasperated and flat. "I just… she…"

"Hey, don't worry about it kid." Hakim said, shaking his head. "Forget I said anything."

Mad Dawg nodded, thinking hard to try and dig up the flashes he had seen. He didn't find them, but he did find another memory…

 _Years ago…_

Moira tapped a needle to ensure it was prepared, she turned back and looked at Omega-725. She wasn't too happy that Sombra had taken it home for the weekend, why couldn't that girl understand that Omega wasn't finished?! She didn't want to admit it, but Omega… wasn't perfect. It was a fascinating breakthrough the likes of which Moira doubted she'd ever be able to recreate. But that didn't mean to was finished, and that's what Moira was working on. She had a few remaining serums and experimental genetic mixings she needed to get into the subject, or else it would effectively wither and die.

"Give me your arm." Moira instructed. Omega blinked, then held out his right arm. Moira sat down and wiped his it's before inserting the large needle. Omega didn't flinch, it didn't yelp like most children his age would, but it clearly didn't like it. What Moira found to be a mixture of interesting and somewhat creepy was it seemed to remain focused on her. Once the injection was finished, Omega tried to get up, only for Moira to push it back down.

"No." She said sternly. Omega lowered his head slightly and seemed ashamed. Bringing a device over, Moira held up the small x-ray device and turned it on, watching the mixtures in his blood all seeming to symbiotically fusing into one. His blood seemed normal, but it was clear it was made up of multiple parts.

" _Fascinating…"_ Moira thought.

"Wait here."

Moira went back to where her tools were, and picked up another syringe, she wanted to study his blood closer up, and she needed a sample.

"I'm going to take some of your blood." She said. She didn't know why, but she had kind of made a habit out of telling Omega what she was going to do to it. For some reason, it seemed almost more compliant when she explained what was happening. Omega looked at her, then at his arm, then proceeded to swipe his arm against the end of the medical table, slicing his hand open on the sharp metal.

"What are you doing?!" Moira exclaimed, taken aback by his action, only to see Omega hold its hand up, blood dripping from the wound. Moira blinked then collected it, frowning at the somewhat barbaric method, but she also couldn't help let the faintest of smiles appear at the corner of her mouth. She hadn't said _'I'm going to take some of your blood with a needle'_ and Omega had shown signs of having a predisposition towards acts of violence. Regardless, she collected the blood she needed then cleaned his hand, noting the wound closing itself. She still needed to figure out how Jax did that…

"Alright, we're finished here. You can go." She said, only to see Omega frown, then hold its arms out. Moira blinked in confusion then frowned when she realized what he was trying.

"No." She said, a bit sterner than she intended. "We're done here. Go."

Omega seemed saddened by the order, but climbed off the medical table and left the lab. Moira noted that while Omega seemed to be learning and interpreting human emotions, thoughts and words extraordinally quickly… It still couldn't talk, or at least, didn't want to.

Omega began wandering the halls, looking for the pretty black-and-red-haired lady. She was always nice to him, where was she? Omega kept wandering the halls until he saw the blue-skinned woman in a shooting range. He wandered into the room, she didn't seem to notice him, and sat on a chair. Omega was intrigued, she was really good at this! After a few more shots, Widowmaker set the rifle down to reload, only to see Omega sitting on a chair, head tilted, watching her.

"Qu'est-ce que tu veux?" She asked. Only to see Omega blink in confusion. Sighing, she grumbled something else in French, then asked: "What do you want?"

Omega looked down the range, then back to her, then shrugged.

"Leave." She ordered, pointing to the door. Omega seemed saddened, but didn't want to fight, so left as quietly as he had come.

Continuing on his wanders, Omega paused when he heard loud grunting. He looked around in confusion, but then realized he was lost. He had been in the base for a few weeks now, but hadn't seen the whole thing. Regardless, he continued walking towards the loud sound until he came to another open door. Looking in, he saw the large man punching a bag. Walking in, Omega watched in fascination as Doomfist seemed to be practicing a fighting routine. After a series of extremely fast and powerful punches, Doomfist suddenly picked up a dumbbell and began doing reps, only to drop it and return to hitting the bag. Omega walked over and looked at the weird metal sticks curiously. He saw one with '75' on it and tried to pick it up.

Nope. Way to heavy.

Annoyed, Omega looked and found one marked '60' and tired again.

Same as last time.

Now feeling agitated, he looked for a few moments before finding one marked '25'. It was heavy, but Omega managed to lift it up. He began mimicking the movements he saw the big man do. After a number or reps, he set it down, his arm felt funny…

"Well, for someone who's never lifted weights before, you have the drive, I'll give you that."

Turning around in shock, Omega looked up at Doomfist who was smirking down at him.

"But you're doing it all wrong."

Getting down on one knee, Doomfist picked up a weight, then showed Omega how to properly curl.

"The way you're doing it won't help your muscles build." He stated. Omega watched in deep concentration, then picked up the weight again and slowly tried the new way.

"Better." Doomfist nodded. "Do seven on one side, then rest for five seconds, then seven on the other side."

Omega was now intently doing as he was told. He paused, catching his breath, then passed the weight over to his other hand. They went on like this for about ten minutes before Omega stopped clearly tired.

"Impressive." Doomfist remarked. Omega looked at Doomfist's gauntlet and pointed to it, the pointed to his human arm. Doomfist watched him for a moment, then realized what he was asking.

"I lost my arm." He explained, showing Omega where the mechanical implant met with his shoulder. Omega looked it over, as if thinking about something, it occurred to Akande he hadn't heard Omega speak, and wondered if he could.

"Has Moira given you vocal chords? Or have you not learned to speak yet?"

Omega blinked, then shook his head, either unsure of what he was asking or unable to answer. Doomfist nodded and returned to his routine while Omega returned to lifting weights. After about another hour of this, Omega decided he wanted to find the red-haired lady and quietly left.

"There you are!" A voice suddenly exclaimed. Omega turned around and held his arms up as Sombra picked him up and held him in her arms. "I was looking for you. Did Moira hurt you?"

Omega shook his head.

"Are you hungry?"

Sombra grinned when she saw Omega nod, and she began to make her way towards te cafeteria again.

 _Present Day…_

"Hey, these… Misfit guys I ran into. Do we have any idea where they're based out of?" Mad Dawg asked.

"No. That's the problem." Hakim frowned. "This is a long shot, but do you happen to know anyone who has underworld contacts?"

"I killed most of- wait." Mad Dawg began but suddenly cut himself off. "Redbone…"

"Redbone?"

"Yeah, Redbone!" Mad Dawg said aloud, as if realizing something. "I think I know someone who might be able to help!"

 _Meanwhile At An Unknown Location…_

Solider: 76, Tracer, Genji, Ana and a few others were watching the bits footage of the attack and subsequent murder of the Prime Minister that had been recovered or were of any use. Something wasn't sitting right with Tracer, the first shot missed… That wasn't like Widowmaker.

"I don't get it…" She muttered. "If this was Widowmaker, and I believe it is. Why'd she miss? It's the one thing she's good at."

"Well, it could've been to cause a panic." Ana reasoned. "If the security believed there was a threat, they would've moved him to a secure place. Maybe she was trying to get a better shot."

"The sound is off." 76 suddenly spoke up realizing something he hadn't before.

"What?" Was collectively asked.

"This might seem crazy, but listen to this." He said, scanning to a specific point in the video. "Athena, can you minimize the background noise and focus on the gun itself?"

"I can try." The A.I. answered, and after a few moments, the clip played. The shot had a distinct crackling echo to it, it didn't appear to be silenced.

"Now listen to this." 76 added, pulling up another video, everyone watched as Widowmaker fired a shot at someone, only to note the distinctly muffled sound of her gun.

"You think someone else took that shot?" Zarya asked with a raised brow.

"Maybe." 76 mused. "It's hard to say."

"It wasn't the target I was following, he was unarmed." Genji remarked. The cyber ninja was initially saddened by the fact that he may have caused a teenager to commit suicide out of fear, but then he went back and looked at the Titan's Cell security footage. The man who was disguised as Private Dixon kept his face mostly turned away from cameras, but there was one brief second that was blurry… but Genji now began to believe maybe he was right.

"On top of all that, what do we know about the body guards?" Torbjörn asked. "There were markings burned into them, do we know what that was about?"

"We're working on it." Ana replied. "But no one we've talked to seems to know what they mean or who they belong to."

There was a silence as the group watched the footage a few more times. It stung that they had failed, but it also made no sense.

"Well, what now?" Tracer finally asked.

"There's a lot we don't know." 76 said matter-of-factly. "But we need to figure it out, and fast. If there's another group out there competing with Talon, that could lead to a full-on war between the two groups."

"True."

"We also still need to figure out how Talon, or whoever they were, got into Titan's Cell and broke Reaper out."

"The Junker we caught, did she say anything?" Zarya asked.

"No." Ana shook her head. "She and the others were there as extras for a movie, everything checked out."

"Pretty damn convenient if you ask me…" Torbjörn muttered.

"Agreed." Zarya nodded.

Genji meanwhile was watching footage from one of the news choppers, and saw himself and the teen he had encountered on a rooftop. Thankfully, the clip cut away before the teen jumped, or that would've been a whole other issue.

"Hey! Boss!" A voice shouted. Without warning, the doors burst open and Lúcio skated into the room, coming to a stop. He was out of breath and seemed like he had just found out something big. "We found something!"

"What!?" 76 blinked in disbelief. Lúcio opened the bag he was carrying and pulled out an evidence bag, with a mask inside. The mask in question seemed to be made of some sort of plastic or light metal, and the whole thing seemed to converge towards the bottom, almost like a falcon's beak.

"There's some sort of camera in this thing. It's pretty banged up, but we were able to pull a few seconds off of it."

The heroes now watched intently as Lúcio inserted the USB stick into the computer and opened the video. Everything was glitchy, distorted, the image was jumping around, but for the briefest of moments, a face could be seen looking at a mirror. Followed by a garbled few words.

"I liked this hoodie…"

 **A.N. Dun nun nun nahhhhh!**

 **Also, before anyone asks, yes, I am working on the DBZ Reacts to Death Battle fic, give it time. It's coming.**


End file.
